The Jingle Express
by Rai Pager
Summary: NOT related to the Polar Express. Jingle's evil brother, Jangle, has taken the presents and the warmth from Jingle's heart. It's up to Laina and Jingle's family to go against the evil ice magician and save Christmas without Jingle's magic to help...
1. Author

**Author's Note**

_Answer for those who are still in wonder_

I came up with this fan-fic idea after watching the family favorite Rankin-Bass holiday movies. We love the movies so much that it's been a tradition in my family to watch at least _one _of the Rankin-Bass Christmas movies. I watched it with my older sister when I was a tot with popcorn. I'm 21 years old now and I still watch them, alone or with my nieces and nephew. _Santa Claus is Coming To Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, _and_ Rudolph's Shiny New Year _are just a few of my favorite Rankin-Bass holiday movies.

I also love playing Animal Crossing in my spare time. I like the music change on the game when you play it on the night of Christmas Eve and try to catch Jingle to make him give you presents.

After watching a holiday special with my niece, I played Animal Crossing before going to bed but I still had the movie on my mind while playing and then this idea was born.

It took me 5 years to finish because I always started on it late. I usually never restart the fic until September or October and I tried to finish before Christmas Day because no one probably wants to read something Christmas-y until next year. There was also a point where I wanted to give up on it until one of my readers begged me to finish because he liked my idea and loved it so much.

But here it is. Completed and ready to be read. I hope you enjoy reading the fic. If you have any questions or comments, e-mail me at . I kinda rushed with finishing. If there's something that seems missing in the fan-fic, e-mail me and let me know.

Thank you to all my friends, online and offline, for support, ideas, and suggestions.

**ENJOY!**


	2. Prologue

**Animal Crossing**

_The Jingle Express_

_Prologue_

(_Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle and his Shadow Dogs, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, and Fandangle are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo. )_

It was Christmas Eve and every animal town was sprucing up to make their homes and themselves to look the part. There were holiday parties and banquets going on in homes, filled with chatty friends who feasted on the light snacks and sipped on champagne and sodas until the Christmas dinner was served.

Children played indoor games, mostly video games, or played outside and had snowball fights or built igloos and snowmen. They were especially excited about the arrival of Jingle, the black-nosed reindeer with the star-eyed glint in his eyes and the Santa Claus of all the animal towns. They had been good (or tried to be) all year so that Jingle could slip down their chimney and leave sweet treats in their stockings and well-deserved gifts under their tree.

As every animal town was busy, way up in the Polar Powder Station, Jingle and his helpers were their busiest.

Candy cane fences encircled Jingle's house, his workshop, and his small train station. Multicolored firefoxes, dressed in green shirts, red overalls, and galoshes, were running from the workshop and to the train station and back again

The workshop looked like a big barn house painted all red with green borders. Inside, the firefox helpers sat a long table and built toys for the billion of good boy and girl animals in every animal town. They hammered nails into colorful wood pieces to make toy cars and trains and doll furniture, pushed stuffing into dolls and stuffed animals and dressed them in bold bowties and light pastel dresses, and hot glued and snapped computer chips and small wires into NES systems and games.

When they completed their toy, they placed it on it a moving conveyor belt and it was taken inside a machine to check to see if it was ready to be shipped to its new owner. Defect toys were pushed out into a machine and out into a box and it had to be repaired or rebuilt.

Perfect toys were rolled out and fell in open white gift boxes. Near the end the exiting belt were helpers to check the gifts. They looked in it to see what kind of toy it was and who it would go to, then they placed a lid on it, wrapped it up in a red ribbon, and let it roll all the way to the end and into velvet white sacks.

When the sacks were full, more helpers picked up the heavy sack and ran outside with it while those who would rather stay warm put another sack under the conveyor belt. Helpers ran through the snow under the mid-afternoon sky with the sack and ran to Jingle's personal train station.

It was a small train station where Mrs. Jingle would sit inside on a couch by a warm fireplace and wait worriedly, looking out the fogged up single pane windows, for her husband, who would sometimes return home late. Sometimes, she'd wait for hours and wouldn't return to the house to grab a bite to eat so a small kitchen was installed to warm up microwavable small chocolate cakes and gingerbread cookies and mugs of hot cocoa.

Instead of a special sled pulled by 8 tiny reindeer, Jingle drove a magical train. It was painted red with white cotton frills just like Jingle's red suit. The locomotive was like an RV; it had the driving controls in the front and in the rear was a small cabin with all the comforts of home. Behind the locomotive were small car holding a huge pile of coal: the train's fuel supply and behind that was a long line of train cars, shaped like sleds, full of sacks of toys for the animal children. Jingle's helpers loaded sacks after sacks of gifts into the cars and sometimes had to attach more cars to load more sacks.

Not too far away from the train station and the workshop, right across an old arch bridge, was the home of the famous reindeer himself. He was in his study, checking his list again and watching through his telescope that allowed him to watch the children all around the world to see if they were behaving as he finished his hot cocoa

"Jingle, you must have looked over your good list at leas one thousand times," his wife, Mrs. Jingle, walked in with a tray of cookies and another hot mug of cocoa, taking away the empty mug.

"I'm just double checking on the children, dear." Jingle said after writing a name on the list and peeked in the telescope again, "Checking to see if they're being good for me to come and bring their gifts."

Mrs. Jingle smiled, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek, "I'm sure they're being extra good for you,

Jingle. I'll go and prepare a little dinner for you. Would you like me to add anything?"

The reindeer stared up at his wife with a cute, innocent grin, "Can you give me more of your delicious cookies, please?"

His wife laughed and nodded, but before she could get out the door, two of Jingle's helpers, Joy and Noel, a green and a pink firefox twins, ran in looking panicky.

"Jingle, something's coming this way." Joy squeaked.

Noel nodded, "And it's an uncomfortable presence."

"What do you mean, you two?" Jingle was confused until he felt a strong feeling in his gut. He told his wife to stay in the study as he slipped on his coat and followed the twins outside.

Jingle ran halfway from his porch and gasped as he looked up at the sky. In the distance, the whole sky was becoming pitch black, but it didn't look like rain or thunder clouds. Everyone working in the Polar Powder

Station stopped what they were doing and looked up at the oncoming darkness.

Some became afraid and ran into the workshop. The strange blackness came closer and closer and it even blocked out the sun, blocking the sunrays and making the whole area dark as if were a stormy night, and a cold wind blew over Jingle and his home, making him very cold although he was wrapped in his heavy red coat. Jingle squinted his eyes and noticed that the simmering clouds above looked like an army of evil, black canines with red eyes and glimmering fangs. They dived down toward the ground, barking viciously, at the helpers, scattering them everywhere. They pounced and clawed at them and ran over dropped gifts, crushing them under their powerful paws.

Before Jingle could do anything, he found himself surrounded by the demon dogs. They bared their fangs at him and barked loudly, making him too afraid to try to escape.

He looked up to the sky again when he heard a dark, familiar chuckle and watched as a large black cloud slowly lowered down to him. Sitting on the cloud and probably the one responsible for all this mess, was a reindeer, just like Jingle, but one of his antlers were upside-down and the other one looked like it was rotting. He wore Jingle's suit, but instead of the joyful red and white, it wore solid black. The almost identical reindeer was accompanied by a female reindeer dressed in a light-blue and white thick-furred Eskimo parka coat and her antlers were encased in crystal ice with icicles hanging on the underside of them. High-pitched, impish giggles came from behind both of them and four smaller versions peered from behind him, snickering almost evilly.

The look-alike reindeer smirked at Jingle with no sign of light in his eyes, "...hello, little brother."


	3. Chapter 1

**Animal Crossing**

_The Jingle Express_

**Starring:**

_Laina_

_Quetzal_

_Joy_

_Noel_

_Jingle_

_&_

_Mrs. Jingle_

_Jangle_

_&_

_Karangle_

_with their kids:_

_Fandangle_

_Bangle_

_Durangle_

_Narangle_

(And other cast of characters I forgot to mention...)

_Chapter 1_

(_Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle and his Shadow Dogs, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, and Fandangle are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo. )_

In the little animal town of Anime, everyone was celebrating Christmas Eve like everyone else around the world. It was evening, but not quite close to dark yet as the sky was still sky blue with a hint of pink and orange coming in.

Tortimer, the mayor of town, made his way across the snow using his cane to help him walk. His warm cloak waved in the small, cold breeze as he continued toward a small neighborhood of four houses. The other three houses were empty, but the two-story house on the right with the sky blue roof showed that it was alive with activity.

He admired the wreath hanging in the front of the door and weakly knocked on the door. Inside, there were loud sounds of chattering, laughter, and the jazzy Christmas song from the stereo and he wouldn't be surprised if had to knock again, but he was astonished as the door opened.

A smiling face of a human girl greeted him. She was dressed in a gelato dress and matching hat and it made her look like a living red, green, and white candy cane. Her pink hair was tied up in two pigtails tied with two red ribbons. "Hello, Mayor Tortimer," the girl greeted warmly.

"Hello, Laina." The tortoise replied, "Sorry I'm late. I'm not as young as I used to be. I bet you're pretty crowded in there, aren't you?"

"No, no, there's plenty of room in my home. And there's plenty of ginger ale to go around too." She opened the door to let him in.

Her downstairs was decorated in the rare Jingle furniture, the perfect furniture set to fit the occasion. It was hard for any ordinary person to get their hands on Jingle furniture, but if you lived in a two-story house, getting any kind of rare furniture is as easy as ordering it from the catalog.

Three Jingle tables were joined to make one long table that was full of all sorts good things to snack on and a big punch bowl of ginger ale caught the mayor's eyes as he walked in.

Laina looked outside for anyone else coming and then closed the door. She admired the big festive tree that stood in the middle of her room. Before the party, Laina had bought the tree and she along with some of the villager's nieces and nephews trimmed it with colorful, glass orb ornaments, tinsel, stringed popcorn, a few, porcelain figurines, and a golden star that Wolfgang's niece, Valerie, had placed at the very top. Laina wasn't the perfect art critic, but to her, this tree was turned into a beautiful masterpiece.

She looked around at how pretty she had set up her house. People in the living room part of the house sat on Jingle couches and had a gentle conversation and played cards and board games as they picked up and set their mugs of hot cocoa down on the glass-top coffee table and munched on cookies. Even though she wasn't much of a musician, she had bought the Jingle piano and set it against the wall and it somehow perfectly fit there. She didn't mind the children sitting on the bench and played with the keys, making silly and off-key tunes.

She walked passed the retro record player that was playing soft Christmas songs for the approaching evening and sat down on a Jingle loveseat couch in front of the flickering fireplace. She leaned to her right, laying on something soft, warm, and feathery.

Quetzal, a gray eagle and Laina's boyfriend, gently embraced her as they were both warmed by the orange and yellow flames. She smiled gently, remembering their last Christmas together. There was no party that year, just her, Quetzal, and a good ol' fashioned movie. After the film, they exchanged gifts, after the gifts, they exchanged lovers' looks and then lovers' kiss. They've been together ever since.

"Shouldn't you be checking on the turkey, babes?" Quetzal asked as he pulled her in a hug and laid his head on top of hers.

Laina giggled, "I checked it before letting the Mayor inside. You sure do seem pretty calm about a turkey being cooked for a Christmas dinner."

"As long as it's a turkey and not me in that hot oven, I'm okay with it. Besides, just being near you makes me warm enough

Laina smiled, snuggling her head in her mate's chest and listening to his soft heartbeat with one ear and the soft music, the gentle conversation, and the sizzling of the cooking food with the other, then she began to hear quarreling amongst the children. She lifted her head and looked over the couch, seeing the three boys (nephews of some of the villagers) arguing with Valerie, Wolfgang's niece.

Valerie was getting frustrated with argument, beginning to tear at the eyes. The boys laughed and teased before becoming bored and going off to do their mischief outside.

Quetzal himself became concerned when he saw the look on Laina's face, "Anything wrong?"

Laina shook her head slowly, "I'll see what's going on." Reluctantly, she sat up and walked up to the upset wolf cub.

"So mean...those jerks..." She mumbled as she held her Jingle plush doll tightly, trying to stop her crying.

Laina kneeled down to her, "What's the matter, hon? The boys giving you a hard time?"

"They called me a baby just because I think Jingle's real. He is real." She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked at Laina, "You don't think I'm a baby, don't you?"

"Of course not," Laina smiled gently, "I believe in Jingle myself."

"You do?"

"Yeah. The boys just don't have enough belief in Jingle because they've never seen him."

Valerie blinked up at her, "Have you seen Jingle, Laina?"

"Actually, yeah, I have." Laina winked, "I even helped him out a li'l bit last year."

"You did?!" the cub smiled, starting to feel better.

The cooking timer beeped very loudly before Valerie could ask anymore questions, getting everyone's attention.

Laina hurriedly pulled the huge, baked turkey from out the oven and placed it in the middle of the dining table, "Alright everyone, dinner is served! Grab ya' a plate and a cup of ginger ale and we can chow down."

Everyone got up from their seats and headed to the dinner table. Laina went back to Valerie and picked her up, following her guests. "Laina, did Jingle give you a Christmas present for helping him out?"

"He sure did," Laina replied as she prepared both of them a plate, "He usually doesn't give gifts to humans, just animals, I know, but he said I was such a big help, he had to pay me somehow." She set the cub down in a chair that was in between her uncle and where she would be sitting.

"Well, this year, I hope he gives you another present. My uncle says you're a hard worker and a great friend so you should get one under your tree."

Laina smiled at Valerie when she said that as everyone ate. She began to think to herself, "I wonder what that jolly 'ol reindeer is doing this minute? I wouldn't be surprised if he was loading up his train right now."

"Jangle! What is the meaning of this?!" Jingle stood in the middle of the large and dim-lit workshop with his wife next to him and all of his workers behind him.

"Shut your trap, brother!" The evil, cold-hearted reindeer shouted standing in front him.

Jangle's wife, Karangle, returned to his side when she let the last guard dog inside and finished locking the door. All the shadow dogs had collected the presents from the train and placed it in a huge pile on the left side of the workshop. Karangle came beside her husband and handed the key to him who then pocketed in his murky coat.

"You know why I'm here." Jangle looked out the window and watched as his demon dogs stood guard around Jingle and his family, growling at any of the frightened helpers who tried to make a run for it.

Jangle looked up at the ceiling, daydreaming of the past, "I've come to put a stop to you once and for all. All December long is always 'Jingle this' and 'Jingle that' and I've just about had up to here with it. While you can bring happiness...I can bring nothing but darkness."

"Jangle..." Jingle tried to speak to his older brother.

"Silence! My husband is speaking!" Karangle shouted for Jangle.

Jangle smiled and nodded a thanks to her and continued, "It's doesn't fair that you get to light up every child's face just by simply bringing them their desired toy," Jangle smirked heartlessly, "Well, this year, I'll bring the children something...nothing." He chuckled when he heard Jingle gasp, "When children all over the world they wake up the next morning and find that you didn't leave them anything; they'll hate you, your reputation will be ruined, and you'll have to live in the darkness just like me, then we can truly be called identical twins."

"Jangle, you're mad," Jingle said, trying desperately to open the door, "You can't do this. Think of what you're saying and the children-"

"Bah," Jangle waved his paw, "I don't see why you bother delivering toys to those snot-nosed bed-wetters. Half of them don't believe in you anyway."

The last sentence made Jingle's heart ache slightly. He knew it was true, but hearing it from someone's mouth hurt just as worse. "That doesn't stop me from what I love doing. Everyone gets gifts whether they believe in me or not. And what about the toys? My helpers spent all year preparing just right for the children."

"Well, you certainly never gave us or our children any gifts," Karangle watched as her three sons, Bangle, Fandangle, and Durangle, and only daughter, Narangle, scurried around them, wrestling and tackling each other like feline cubs.

"Well, if I remember correctly, my dear brother," Jangle summoned his cloud and sat upon it, "Ever since you started this job, you never sent us any gifts because we were always on your naughty list."

"Yar, we never got any toys," Fandangle ripped open one present, pulling out a toy car. He looked over it and made a face of disgust, "Who'd wanna play with these crappy-made things anyway?" He tossed the toy over his shoulder.

The firefox helpers' mouths dropped as the toy went sailing across the air and crashed against the wall. Three bolts zipped off the car wheels and everyone could hear the wooden car's side crack on impact and it fell to the floor, turning from a perfect-made toy car to a broken, one-wheeled toy jalopy.

They gasped as Bangle broke apart an NES system after losing a game. Then Durangle scooted around quickly on a toy train, pretending he was an action hero in a movie, then jumped off before it crashed right through the workshop wall, then little Narangle opened a gift with a new doll in it. She thought it didn't look right and started cutting its red, yarn-stringed hair with a pair of scissors, giving it a very uneven haircut and, dissatisfied with it, she ripped its head off.

"Jangle, please stop your children!" Jingle shouted in a horrified tone, "They're destroying the toys!"

Jangle just watched his children wreck toy after toy and chuckled darkly, "What's wrong, little brother? I thought it was your duty to light up every child's face with smiles. Well, as you can see, my children are very happy at what they're doing."

Karangle leaned over to Jangle, whispering something in his ear. Jangle listened intently, and then began to smile evilly, "That's an excellent idea, my darling wife. That's why I married you: such excellent ideas to act my vengeance upon."

"Jangle, please don't do anything rash," Mrs. Jingle worked up the bravery to speak, "We can work things out."

"Working things out takes too long. We're doing things my way now," Jangle smirked, "I'm going to make sure I get what I want this year so that's why I'm taking all the toys and giving them to my children, seeing as you need to pay them for not giving them any gifts on Christmas."

Jingle could do nothing but glare at his older brother and clenched his fist tightly; one wrong move could make Jangle's shadow dogs do serious damage to him, his wife, and his helpers. Jangle created a black cloud that could probably fit the largest elephants upon it and made even more shadow dogs to carry the presents and pile them on the cloud.

Jingle felt a warm paw slide into his and he looked into the eyes of his wife. He calmed down and nodded reassuringly to her, and then he looked up at his brother, "You may have taken the toys, but we're still here, Jangle. We may be late delivering gifts this year, but it won't stop us from bringing happiness on Christmas like we do every year."

Jangle turned to his brother as Karangle gathered their children on the cloud and then she too sat upon it. She smiled coldly, already knowing what Jangle had in store for his little brother, "Is that so, Jingle?" he walked toward him with no haste.

Jingle stood in his spot, not taking any steps back or forward, trying to read his brother's dark mind. "Everyone says your make your toys with tender, love, and care: all three which come from the heart," Jangle said, stopping in right in front of Jingle, then a light crackle emitted from his paw, "Then let's see how you do without it."

Jangle quickly clamped onto Jingle's chest with one paw, over the area where his heart would be. Before Jingle could react, he felt a strong, painful feeling going throughout his body as if he were being electrocuted. He felt his body getting colder and cold. Jangle chuckled heartlessly as he slowly pulled his paw away and comforting, reddish ball of light came out of Jingle's chest and into the palm of his brother's paw.

Jingle fell to his knees, looking blue from the cold and shivering violently. All of his helpers tried to help him up, but he was so cold that their paws went numb only after a few seconds of touching him. Luckily, Mrs. Jingle had her coat and gloves on and was able to hug her husband, but felt his chilly fur from her warm fabrics.

She looked up at Jangle pleadingly, "What happened? What did you do to Jingle?"

"I simply took what makes him tick: his warm heart," Jangle replied as he used his frost magic to encase the light ball in a heart-shaped crystal of ice, "I bet he doesn't feel so confident without this."

The helpers, now becoming angry at seeing all their hard work being put in the wrong paws and what happened to their leader, began to step forward with their paws clenched, but the shadow dogs' vicious barks and growls reminded them that Jangle was protected.

Jangle took a seat next to his wife and watched as the children clambered over the tower of presents behind him, "Now, now, remember, you don't open them until tomorrow."

"Aw, daddy, do we have to wait until tomorrow?" Narangle whined, holding onto the severed head doll.

"All the noise you cause will keep me from what I like to hear the most," Jangle smiled coldly, "The sad and angry cries of the children when they see no present under the Christmas tree." He whistled for his shadow dogs and they slowly pulled away from their guarding position, giving one last glare and growl so that no one would make any sudden movements just yet, then they disappeared through the walls like ghosts.

The dark cloud rose up into the air, carrying Jangle, his family, and the stolen gifts with it, ""Well, I'm off to my frozen abode. Ta-ta, Jingle. Oh, and after tomorrow, I bet you could find a new job as an ice fisherman." He cackled loudly as the cloud flew out of one of the upper windows and it seemed to echo across the land as it flew him toward the horizon.

It was only silent for a few seconds. One of the helpers, Joy, the female, pink firefox, turned on the lights and gathered with everyone around Jingle.

Mrs. Jingle held him tightly to warm him, but he trembled so hard that she could barely hold him, "Someone bring him a blanket quickly."

A few helpers got an emergency blanket, used for putting out fires, out of the fire safety kit and wrapped Jingle up as best he could. Joy couldn't stand to see her leader like this and clung to her twin brother, Noel, the green firefox, for comfort.

Noel could feel her pain and nuzzled her softly, then spoke to Jingle, "Don't worry, Jingle. We'll have you warmed up in no time, then you just tell us what toys to build and we'll build them."

"It's no use," Jingle said sadly through his chattering teeth, "Jangle has won. He has beaten me. And there will be no more toys for the children."

The helpers blinked and looked around at each in shock; this wasn't the real Jingle speaking.

"It's not going to be that simple," Mrs. Jingle explained, hugging her husband and trying to keep him even warmer, "The frost magic Jangle has done to him has made him cold both physically and emotionally. If we don't do something now, Jingle will end up like Jangle."

There was a gasp among the crowd, "We've got to do something!" shouted one helper.

"Jingle didn't give up on us so we're not doing to give up on him," another one yelled, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Mrs. Jingle began to think her hardest. The helpers kept silent, giving her the concentration she needed to brainstorm. Her eyelids flew open when an idea pooped into her head, "I have a plan, but we have to get Jingle into the house."

"But the door's locked, Mrs. Jingle," one helped spoke, "Jangle's making sure there's no Christmas this year. How are we gonna get out?"

"Well, that's too bad for Jangle," Noel held up the padlock key, "Because we're gonna make sure there's gonna be a Christmas this year and every year."

Mrs. Jingle's eyes lit up, "The key! How'd you get it?

"While everyone was watching Jangle take Jingle's heart," Noel twirled the key in his finger, "I sneaked behind him, slipped my paw in his pocket without touching him, and I quickly grabbed the key. Now, let's get out of here."

Noel instructed two of his brothers to pull the toy train Durangle had crashed through wall and saw that the collision put a hole in the wall. He handed the key to his sister and she shimmied through the hole into the snow. The helpers wrapped Jingle up as best as they could with blankets and, with a lot of teamwork, they lifted him up in their mitten paws, holding him above them. There was the sound of the keypad being unlatched outside and the door opened with two pink paws holding onto the edge of the door.

They carried Jingle out of the workshop, walking almost simultaneously, through the snowy field and into Jingle's house. They set him in his favorite recliner in front of the fireplace and one of the helpers started a fire on the firewood while others threw a throw blanket on Jingle.

A normal animal would have been complaining of being too hot under all those covers, but Jingle was still shivering, but not as much as before.

Mrs. Jingle hurried upstairs into the bedroom, accompanied by Joy and Noel, and picked up another telescope that was like the one that Jingle used in his study to check up on the children around the world.

"What do we do now?" Joy asked, "Jingle's still cold and Jangle took the presents."

Noel growled in frustration, "We can't just sit here and let Jangle have his way. There's gotta be way we can march up to his castle, take all the presents, and get Jingle's heart back…without being frozen into popsicles, of course."

"That's what we're going to do, Noel," Mrs. Jingle replied as she extended the telescope and viewed through it, "But we'll need an extra helping paws…well, hands, I mean."

"Hands?" Joy leaped beside her, "We're going to ask a human to help us?"

"Not just any human, Joy," Mrs. Jingle searched around and around to find the right town. When she found it, she looked straight at the pink, pig-tailed human girl who was feasting with her lover and good friends, "Ah, there she is."

"There who is? Who?" Joy asked excitedly.

Mrs. Jingle gave the telescope for her and Noel to look through, "Remember the girl Jingle told us about that helped him out of his predicament last year? Her name is Laina. We need to go to her town, Anime, to get her and maybe she could help us."

Noel shrugged as he looked through the telescope, "She looks like an ordinary girl to me. What makes her so special? She'll just get in the way."

"Don't judge a book by its cover." Joy said, waving a finger at her twin brother.

Mrs. Jingle nodded, "That's right. And if she's as brave and strong as she was last year as my husband described her, I'm sure she can help us out."

"Alright. Whatever you say, Mrs. Jingle," Noel handed her the telescope back, "So what's the plan?"

"We'll take Jingle with us to make sure he stays warm," Mrs. Jingle unwrapped a scrolled-up map, showing which way the tracks went that the train followed, "We're gonna operate his train to Anime and, if Laina decides to help us, we'll take it straight to Jangle's ice castle. You two know how to operate it, right?"

"But ma'am," Joy stood up with a bit of panic on her face," The train can't move without Jingle's magic. How will it go?"

Mrs. Jingle smiled, "It might not be able to do much without Jingle, but it can drive as fast like any other train on the tracks."

"And what about everyone else in Polar Powder Station?" Noel asked, "They're all gonna be stuck here and worried while we go find this girl and then Jangle."

"They're going to have to stay here and watch over the station just in case Jangle returns," Mrs. Jingle began to gather maps and other essentials, "Go downstairs and tell the others. Tell them they may return to their village if they like, but be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary."

Joy and Noel headed downstairs and told their family and friends about the plan. Some disagreed with it and wanted to go along or let Jingle stay home where they could keep an eye on him, but they explained that the train wasn't big enough to hold everyone and it would be better if Jingle came with them so they could keep an eye on him and to keep him away from Jangle if he should come back and cause more damage.

Mrs. Jingle came downstairs fully dressed in her red and white parka, almost looking like Jingle himself, and holding maps in one paw and a large sack in the other, probably full of extra blankets for Jingle and magical items to protect them..

The helpers lifted Jingle and headed outside again, heading toward the train station. The train cabin was like an RV; it had all the comforts of home on wheels. They placed Jingle into the bedroom and tucked him in bed, covering him with even more blankets and turning on the heat.

The helpers hugged tightly to Mrs. Jingle and to Joy and Noel, telling them to be careful.

"We'll be careful," Mrs. Jingle assured them, smiling warmly, "Don't worry, everything will be alright. You'll see."

Noel walked up to engine, feeding coal to the fire as his sister and Mrs. Jingle gave more reassurance and said their last goodbyes to the helpers and got into the train cabin. He pulled a lever to start the train and smoke hissed from underneath the engine. The wheels slowly started to move forward, creaking rather loudly. He tugged on a string and the whistle let out a loud shrill shriek.

Joy waved to everyone as the train slowly trudged forward, blowing on the window to make steam and writing messages with her fingers, although the messages were backwards to them. Noel pushed a button up front that opened the peppermint stick gate in front of the tracks and the train began to pick up the speed as it passed them. When the last car went through the gate, they automatically shut, keeping the rest left behind safe in the Polar Powder Station.

Noel shoveled a few more coal into the fire, keeping the train going at a medium-fast speed, before closing it door and going to join Joy and Mrs. Jingle in the train cabin.

Mrs. Jingle sat at her husband's bedside with Joy, looking over him worriedly. Jingle seemed to stop shivering but only slightly. He would shudder a few times, then hold absolutely still for a few moments, then shiver again.

Joy hugged her small pink and white ringed tail, "I hope he'll be alright until we can get all this fixed.

"Same here. Do you think that he'll really be like Jangle?" Noel looked up to her.

Mrs. Jingle nodded reluctantly, "I've seen what his cold and heartless frost magic has done to others when I used to ride along with my husband on Christmas two years ago. He attacked us and his magic almost caused me my life, but Jingle was right there to save me. That's why I stayed behind from now on because Jingle was too afraid of me getting hurt. Now he's the one who needs my help."

"And we'll be by your side the whole way, Mrs. Jingle," Joy said, "You just tell us what to do and we'll do it."

Noel nodded, grabbing his sister on the shoulder, "And we'll start by keeping the train going to and from our destinations and then getting Jingle's heart back. But first, let's go see if this girl can help us. Mrs. Jingle, you stay in here and keep an eye on your husband's condition. I'll keep this train going and Joy can keep an eye to make sure that girl stays in her place."

Joy skipped into the small kitchen and grabbed cookies for her and Noel before going to the window with the telescope. She peered through the eye scope, searching for the town that Laina lived in until she found her. "Hmm…I wonder who does her hair." Joy waved her tail slowly.

"I still say she looks like an ordinary human," Noel nibbled on a cookie keeping an eye on the engine from behind the door, "What's she doing now?"

Joy replied, "Well, it looks like she just had a Christmas party. Looks like everyone's leaving and some are helping her clean up."


	4. Chapter 2

**Animal Crossing**

_The Jingle Express_

(_Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, Fandangle, the Tanuki lord and Tan-Xui, Shu-Lin, and Shu-Xui, are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo. )_

_Fun Note: The 'ancient language' the Tanukies speak below is language I borrowed from **Starfox Adventure's** **Dinosaur language**. If you want a translation, find your StarFox Adventures instruction manual to decipher what they are saying. Have fun!_

_(And of course the Dinosaur language is © Starfox and Nintendo so such)_

_Chapter 2_

Laina waved goodbye to her guest as they left to their homes. Quetzal and Valerie had stayed behind to help her clean up the mess.

"Jingle hates dirty houses." Valerie told her as they walked to the dump with bags of garbage.

Laina nodded, "I know. He said it was one of his pet peeves." She swung the bag around and threw it in the junk pile. Little Valerie just dragged the bags and placed them near the bottom.

They walked back to the house and sat on the front porch watching the snow fall gently from the sky.

Laina asked Valerie, "Have any idea of what you want Jingle to bring you?"

Valerie nodded, "I want a new dolly, a tea set, and the NES Wario's Woods game."

"Wario's Woods, huh? That's a fun game."

"Yeah, except the boys here say that Jingle only gives NES to boys. Is that true?"

"Of course not, Valerie. It's just that more girls your age would ask for a full doll playset or maybe one of those pink playhouse that comes with that cool battery-powered jeep, but your request might be a bit interesting to Jingle; he might find you more unique than other girls and he likes uniqueness."

"You know a lot about Jingle," Valerie smiled, "Almost like you've been best friends forever."

Laina shrugged with a grin, "You could say that."

"But if you do see him," she pulled out an envelope out her pocket decorated with crayon and marker with the words, 'To: Jingle, From: Valerie', on the front,

"Can you give him this letter? I was so excited about him coming and all that I forget to send my list."

Laina smiled and took the envelope with a nod, "Sure thing, hon." She looked up when she heard Wolfgang and his gruff voice calling for Valerie to come back to the house. She waved to her as she left, "Have a merry Christmas, Valerie, and remember Jingle likes good children who are asleep before midnight."

She smirked at the boys who heard her, who were nearby planning to cause more mischief, and hurried home to their relatives' house. She waited until Valerie safely entered her uncle's home before entering her own house.

Her eyes extended and mouth dropped at the mess around her living room/kitchen: napkins overflowed in the trashcan and onto the floor along with smudges from frosting and cream and stuffing and cranberry sauce, chairs were scooted out of place, glasses and juice cups were toppled over, its liquid contents making puddles on the tablecloth and dripping onto the floor, cookie crumbs and empty mugs were left on the coffee table and candy mints and candy canes underneath it, and there was clumps of fruitcake on the wall when the naughty nephews thought it was more fun to throw the cake than eat it.

"Whew…looks like I still have a long way to go." Laina sighed.

"Never fear, fair dear!" Quetzal appeared by the stack of dishes beside, standing with his legs apart and his balled wingtips on his hips, a pose a cartoon superhero would stand in, and wore a pink apron, "for the Elegant Eagle is here!"

Laina blinked, "Quetzal? I thought you went home," then she giggled, "And what are you doing in that apron?"

The gray eagle walked up to her and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, "I couldn't go home knowing you had all this cleaning to do. I couldn't leave you hanging, babe, I just couldn't. Oh, and as for the apron," he tugged it forward so she could get a good look at it, "My mom meant to send it to my sister, but she sent it to me by accident so I thought I would make good use of it."

"It's nice," Laina examined him and slowly shook her head, "But pink is not your color, hon." Quetzal stuck his tongue out at her and she laughed, "Alright. Let's get to work. This room isn't going to clean itself. Although, I wish it would one day."

Laina swept, vacuumed, shampooed, and mopped the floors and picked up trash and dragged bags of it to the dump while Quetzal washed dishes, wiped the counters and table, and washed the stained tablecloths. Quetzal purposely performed physical humor like running into the Christmas tree or slipping and falling on the wet floors to keep Laina perky when the look of doubt and boredom struck her face.

It wasn't quite dark yet when they did get finished with cleaning the house. Laina folded the last clean tablecloth, placed it on the top of the pile of clean laundry, and stored it away in the closet while Quetzal added more firewood to bring the dying fire in the fireplace back to life. The flames increased and it seemed to have a reflection on the shiny, clean floor; everything downstairs appeared to sparkle from cleanliness.

Quetzal sighed as he flopped on the couch and looked down at his wrinkled wingtips, "Now I can see what the big deal is about dishpan wings. My wings feel like prunes."

"They'll return to normal. And thanks for helping me clean up," Laina slumped beside him, "Now Jingle will have nothing to grumble about when he drops down my chimney."

"You talk about Jingle as if he were a real animal," Quetzal chuckled, "You don't actually think he's real, do you?"

Laina replied with an innocent smile, "Just call me a kid at heart. I'm like that around the holidays." She knew the real answer to his question, but she had promised to keep it secret.

Quetzal pulled her close, nuzzling her cheek softly, "That's what I love about you. You're unselfish and caring. You always give, give, and give more than you should."

"Speaking of giving," Laina giggled, blushing from her boyfriend's comments, "What do you want for Christmas?"

Quetzal thought for a moment, then answered, "I would like those new SilverWing Snow Boots. Those are popular around the winter season for eagles but they're so hard for anyone to get their paws…or hands on. So I'll just settle for you." He continued cuddling with his human girlfriend until he was able to take a glance at his wristwatch, "Oh wow, is it that time already? I still have to run to Nookington's to buy gifts, and then I have to finish those Christmas letters to family and friends."

"Can I help?" Laina asked, smiling sleepily.

"Aren't you tired, babe?" The eagle looked down at her worriedly, "You've been planning this party for weeks. Then you had to make so many lists that it made my head spin. Then you had to send out invitations, and then you had to buy the food and drinks and the Christmas tree and decorations for it and the house. Then you had to prepare the house for the party, then cook the food…and I'll just stop there. Just telling you what you had to do is making me tired."

Laina lied as she tried to fight back a yawn, "I'm not quite tired. I had a lot of sugar and I feel like I could help you with your gift shopping and letters, then run around the whole town to burn the weight I gained."

"Yeah, then you would fall flat on your face in the snow. Sugar gives you energy, but not a lot," Quetzal shifted to stand up the couch.

Laina began to fall over, not really awake enough to balance herself on her two feet. Quetzal quickly caught her and stared down at her, "That's it, babe. Bedtime for you. No ifs, ands, or buts." He lifted her off the couch in both arms of his arms and carried her upstairs.

She squirmed lightly in his hold, trying, but failing, to fight against him and her sleepiness. Her bedroom was the only area that was untouched during the party. It was dark as Quetzal walked from the top step and into the room. The only light provided was the orangish-red light rays from the evening sunset, the colorful lights from the four small Christmas trees in the four corners of her room, and the Jingle bedside lap that shone under the red and white-tipped shade.

"But who will walk you home?" Laina asked as her boyfriend laid her in bed and tucked her in, "I don't want anyone to jump on you."

Quetzal chuckled, "I doubt anyone would try to jump on a muscle-bound bird like me and I'll be on the look-out if anyone suspicious is stalking me," he stared in her worried eyes, "Don't worry about me. If it'll make you feel better, I'll have Chief walk with me, alright?"

"Alright." Laina nodded

The gray eagle tried to stand, but her arm was still wrapped around his neck, holding him down. He looked at her with and noticed that she was looking up above and then back at him with a sly smile repeatedly. He looked up and smirked when he saw she held mistletoe above her head with her free hand. He leaned forward and she sat up until their lips pursed together, lip locking into a passionate kiss.

They both reluctantly pulled back and smiled lovingly at each other. "Come by tomorrow and we'll open gifts together," Laina hugged Quetzal, "Goodnight, lovebird."

"Goodnight, babes." Quetzal kissed her on the forehead and left the room, not noticing as Laina playfully admired his tail feathers as he walked downstairs. She heard the fire sizzling as he poured water into the fireplace, the click of the light switch and the power button to the stereo as he turned them off, and the slow opening and closing and soft click of the front door as he left the house. She groggily untied her red hair ribbons from her hair and placed them on the bedside table before turning off the light and falling asleep.

It didn't take long for her to fall into a deep sleep. A smile began to curve on her face as she dreamt of a wedding for her and Quetzal. It was spring and cherry blossom petals blew every which way in the light breeze as Laina, dressed in a flowing, white wedding gown, walked up to the altar at the wish well. On her right sat her family, her mother in the front and her eyes filled with happy tears and on her left were friends from her old home town and the Anime 4 village.

Quetzal, dressed in a white tuxedo, was standing by the altar and watched her smiling as she came down the aisle. She smiled in return behind her veil as she stood next to him.

Mayor Tortimer began the wedding, reading from the book. After exchanging vows and rings, the mayor/preacher said the words the two have been waiting so long to hear, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Laina's face veil came up and the two slowly neared each other's pursed lips until they came together. Although this was a dream, the kiss seemed so real; she could actually feel his lips, but strangely...instead of feathers, she felt fur.

She slowly opened her eyes and stared at a mysterious furry critter that she was in a lip-lock to. Out of fright, she screamed and jumped up. She frantically looked around the dark bedroom, clinging to the blankets. She shakily pulled on the light switch, brightening the room once again, and made her way toward the fireplace, reaching for the poker and holding it tightly in both hands, ready to strike at whatever leapt at her.

"Who's there?" She shakily cried out, "Come out slow and we won't have any problems." She thought she saw a shadow move and whirled around when she heard something skittering behind her, but saw nothing.

A loud knock from downstairs startled Laina, making her jump with a yelp. She made her way downstairs, wrapping her robe around herself, and slowly opened the front door still holding the poker in her other hand, "Hello?"

Quetzal immediately grabbed her in a tight embrace, "Laina, are you alright? I heard you screaming from next door." he asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Laina panted as she looked around shakily, "I thought I ki-...saw something weird."

The eagle walked inside, closing the door to keep the cold out, and gently rubbed her back, "You must've had a terrible dream, that's all." He nuzzled her soothingly and rubbed from her shoulders to her arms.

Laina wished she could tell Quetzal about the dream she had of them getting married, but she was still in shock and disturbed about what happened after she woke up so she just leaned her head on his chest, still searching around in the dark warily; she knew that wasn't part of her dream.

"Let's try to go back to sleep," he cooed into her ear while leading her upstairs, "I'll keep you safe."

She started to feel a bit better and smiled with a nod, "Okay."

Laina crawled back in bed while Quetzal lit the bedroom fireplace. The bed was too small for two people to lie in, but it didn't matter to him. He was able to scoot onto the edge and pulled her close to him. He gently stroked her hair again slowed to a stop when fell he asleep. Laina closed her eyes, but didn't fall asleep just in case. She suddenly felt a presence in the room and jolted her eyes open to see the furry creature again.

Before she could yell out, a green paw covered over her mouth. "Please let's not restart that again." It said, speaking in a male voice.

Laina quickly turned around to wake Quetzal up and was shocked to see another furry animal, this one pink, having its fingers in the eagle's ear holes. She turned back to the green animal and frowned, "Who are you? What do you want?" She followed it with her eyes as it walked in front of the dim light from the fireplace, showing that it was a green firefox.

"My name is Noel. And the pink firefox is my twin sister, Joy." Laina looked at the second firefox, able to separate the darkness from her eyes, to look at Joy. She waved to Laina with her tail since her paws were being used right now.

Noel continued, "Laina, we have an urgent message from Jingle. He needs your help."

It finally all made since to Laina now on who these creatures were and how they got into her house and she nodded, "But let's talk downstairs. I don't wanna freak Quetzal out."

The two red pandas nodded. Noel was the first to disappear downstairs. Joy's fingers made a popping sound when she pulled them out of the eagle's ears and he jolted awake. She hurried downstairs without making a sound.

"What now?" The bird looked around with sleepy eyes and saw Laina sitting up again, "Another bad dream?"

She shook her head, "I was…uh…just going downstairs for some peppermint tea. Want me to make you a cup?"

"Sure. Thanks, hon." He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before lying back down.

Laina tiptoed downstairs and saw the firefoxes sitting on one of the couch in the corner. Instead of turning on the light, she re-lit the fireplace, brightening up the room.

"Before we speak," Joy waved her feet from side to side, "Were you really gonna make something to eat? We came a long way, you see, and we're hungry."

Laina smiled as she served them a few leftovers from dinner and two mugs of quick-to-make hot cocoa. She sat on the couch opposite from them, "So, I'm guessing you guys our Jingle's toy builders."

"Yeah. We help Jingle make toys for the children every Christmas," then Joy's ears lowered, "Or, we used to."

"Used to?"

"Jingle's in trouble," Noel explained after sipping at his hot chocolate, "His older brother, Jangle, and his wife and kids have taken all the gifts and stolen Jingle's warmth from his heart."

Laina blinked, "Jangle? Jingle has a brother? I never knew he had siblings."

Joy nodded, "Jangle has never been mentioned. He's just so dark, he can't be mentioned. Jingle and Jangle are like yin and yang, kind of like me and my brother; even though we look the same, we do different things like while he eats just plain peanut butter and

jelly sandwiches, I like to add pickles and catsup to mine."

Noel looked at his sister in embarrassment while Laina giggled. "What my sister is trying to say is Jingle and Jangle are opposites; while Jingle is a symbol of joyfulness and brings happiness in everyone's heart, Jangle has anger and sadness and strikes fear to anyone that crosses his path."

"That's sounds awful," Laina replied, "Why is Jangle so dark?"

"No one knows. Not even Jingle himself, but I guess the green monster took over his mind," Noel slammed his fist on the couch arm, "Jangle used his magic and now he has Jingle shivering like a wet otter on top of a mountain and Jangle's gonna let his kids wreck all the toys that he stole so that no child gets a gift this year."

"And not only will all the toys be destroyed, but also all of the children's wishes, Jingle's reputation, and just Christmas period." Joy added sadly.

Laina's face darkened, "That's just cruel…no, that's lower than cruel. Stealing away children's happiness for his selfish greed and hate. He's gotta be stopped."

Noel smiled, "So you will accompany us on our journey to Jangle's Ice Castle, yes?"

"And do what?" Laina blinked, "I'm not exactly Super Girl or Wonder Woman here."

"But you must come with us," Joy grabbed her hand, "We'll think of something along the way. Mrs. Jingle wouldn't have told us to come to you if she knew she'd put your life in danger."

"Mrs. Jingle's here? Where is she?" Laina asked.

Noel quickly replied, "She's on the train with Jingle now."

"Train? But I didn't hear-" Laina was becoming a bit puzzled now.

"We'll explain everything on the way," Noel looked at her seriously, but pleadingly, "Now are you coming or not?"

Laina was silent for awhile, and then let out a deep sigh, "Alright, I'll come. We'll probably think of a plan. But what about Quetzal? I can't just leave him without saying anything."

"And you understand about keeping Jingle's presence a secret," Noel watched as the girl nodded, "So you cannot tell him where you are going and we certainly can't take him with us."

"Then what can I do?" Laina shrugged, "I'm very well known around here so if I went missing without a trace, he would have the whole town looking for me."

The three brainstormed until Joy jumped up with a gleeful shout. Without saying a word, she went out into the cold and came back moments later with a small pouch.

Noel stopped her, "Whoa, Joy! How'd you get that? You know better than to snoop around in Jingle's Bag-O-Tricks."

"He left his trick bag on the train. Remember he almost forgot it last year and promised himself this year that it would be the first thing he would load on the train. Besides, brother, we have no choice if we want her to come with us." Joy gave the bag to Laina, "This is Jingle's sleeping sand. He sprinkles this to keep from being spotted by children who are still awake, but it's useful on adults too."

Laina opened the bag and looked in it. The sand was shiny and silver like glitter, "How can I give it to him without revealing it? I'm not very good at acting unsuspicious."

Suddenly, Quetzal's voice came downstairs, scaring Noel and Joy behind the couch, "You okay down there with the tea, Laina?"

"Tea?" She had almost forgotten the excuse she made up to come downstairs. The tea kettle started to whistle and she sighed in relief, "I'll be up in the minute, Quetzal."

She poured the hot water in a mug and added the tea bag, "Can I mix the sleeping sand in liquid?"

"Sure. It's tasteless and it'll dissolve in the tea. It should kick in as soon as he drinks it. Allow me." Noel held the bag and took a measuring cup, inspecting it as he scooped up the magic sand little by little.

Joy mentioned to him, "Careful, Noel, if you put too little in his drink, he'll only be asleep for a few seconds. Try adding a little more."

"I know what I'm doing, sis," he snapped at her, "And this is too much. This could put him to sleep for 10 years or longer."

Laina laughed nervously and took the bag and cup, "Why not let me do it? I'm pretty good with measurements."

After finding the right amount of sleeping sand, she poured it in the mug and stirred it with the tea. She made her way upstairs with the tea and Noel and Joy sat halfway up the stairs so they could hear everything.

Quetzal smiled as she set the tea down next to him, "Everything went okay down there?"

"Yeah, I got a little frustrated looking for the tea bags." She sat down next to him, "Try some. I even added another ingredient to make it taste better."

"Really? Sweet! The mint is tasty, but its strong taste does a nasty number to my tongue." Quetzal took the mug in his wings and took a good drink of the tea.

Laina watched as he surprisingly drunk the whole thing, but he looked unaffected by the sleeping sand.

"Hmm...it tastes the same. Are you sure you put enough of the ingredient in the tea?" He asked, wiping his mouth with his arm.

She laughed nervously, remembering Noel and Joy's consequences adding too little or too much of the magic sand, "I'm sure of it."

He nodded and smiled, "Well, it taste the same, but better since you made it." But he suddenly felt extremely tired and he fell on Laina and he groaned sleepily.

Laina sighed quietly in relief when she saw the sleeping sand was taking effect. "I love you so much," he almost whispered as his eyelids drooped, "Do you know that?"

She smiled, "Of course, I know that because I love you just as much." She kissed him on his forehead and rubbed on his arm until she felt him slip into a deep sleep. She propped him into bed and tucked him in and kissed him one last.

Noel and Joy waited for Laina downstairs as she dressed. Even though darkness was approaching, they couldn't risk of being seen outside. Laina came down the steps dressed in a Jingle shirt, the only shirt that could be given by Jingle himself. Laina smiled, "I thought I'd dress for the occasion."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just go now." Noel opened the door and they were greeted by a rush of cold air. Before stepping outside, Laina walked over to the stand next to the piano, picked up Valerie's envelope to Jingle, and slipped it in her inner shirt pocket.

As they walked toward the train station, Laina looked over her shoulder at her home, staring straight up at her bedroom window where Quetzal laid asleep, "I hope he'll be okay. I hope he doesn't wake up too soon and find out I'm gone."

"No worries," Joy waved a paw, "You put the right amount so he should be asleep all night or at least until you get back. You two sure love each other lots. You two should marry."

Laina smiled, "I've been thinking a lot about that."

"I do know this," Noel chuckled and blushed, "That eagle sure is lucky with a kisser like you."

"Let's just pretend that didn't happen." Laina replied as she blushed, more of embarrassment.

They walked up to the empty train station. Porter had retired down in his home under the train station for the long winter nap. Laina looked around, "So what are we waiting for?"

Joy glared at Noel, "We're waiting for my brother to find the remote to take the cloaking device off of Jingle's train."

Noel grumbled as he dug through his pockets and finally pulled out a green colored, two-button remote control. He pushed the red button and something big and red began to slowly appear in front of them.

Laina watched in amazement as the Jingle train developed before her eyes. She heard stories about it, but of course, never saw it in real life.

Noel pushed the next button and the door to the cabin opened, "All aboard. Next stop: Jangle's Ice Castle." Laina followed the two inside and looked around at the RV-like locomotive until she found herself staring into the bedroom.

She saw a female reindeer that wore the same clothes and having the same starry-eyed glint in her gaze just like Jingle, sitting next to the bed, looking at a covered lump in the bed, "Mrs. Jingle?" She walked into the room and noticed how incredibly warm it was in the room, almost boiling hot.

The reindeer looked up when her name was called and smiled gently, "Hello there. You must be Laina," she stood up and bowed politely, "It is nice to finally meet you. My husband has told me so much about you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Laina bowed back, "Jingle's told me about you and about your fabulous cooking," she laughed, then looked around, "Where is Jingle, by the way? Noel and Joy said that he-."

A loud sneeze startled her and noticed the blanketed lump moving. Mrs. Jingle motioned Laina to come by her side. Laina stood beside her and watched as Mrs. Jingle pulled the blankets back. Jingle was curled in a ball, shivering even violently since he was uncovered. He was looking blue in the fur from the cold and frost began to grow on his antlers, eyebrows and eyelashes, the tip of his nose, and upper and lower part of his lips.

Laina gasped, jumping back against the wall, and covered her mouth with both hands, "Th-that's Jingle?"

Mrs. Jingle unwillingly nodded, "Jangle has taken the warmth from his heart and, without it, my poor husband is becoming cold inside and out."

"Yeah, Noel told me about it, but I didn't think he would be this bad," Laina began to feel distressed and helpless just staring at him, "Can he hear well?"

Mrs. Jingle covered her husband back up, "Yes, he can. Would you like to say something to him?"

Laina nodded and moved over so that her mouth was right over Jingle's ear, "Jingle, don't worry everything's going to be alright."

"L-Laina? Is that you?" Jingle responded shakily, weakly opening his eyes, "Wh-what are y-y-you doing here?"

Laina smiled, "I'm here to help get the present and your heart back."

"What's the point?" Jingle curled up in a tighter ball, "It's too dangerous for you to confront Jangle, Laina. And even if you do win against my brother, it'll be too late: by that time, all the children will wake up to see no presents under their tree and I'll already be siding with my brother. You're just a silly little girl anyway. Why don't you just turn around and get off the train now?"

"Jingle!" Mrs. Jingle's mouth opened in shock, then turned to Laina, "Laina, Jingle doesn't really mean-"

"Silly little girl?" Laina arched an eyebrow, "You sure didn't think that when I helped you last year. Last year, you stopped into my town and you were confused because someone in my town had stolen your maps. We went through thick and thin to get all 10 maps back and even confronted the main culprit himself. Sure, I was scared and I was unconfident, but you believed in me. Your assurance in me gave me courage and we were able to get the maps back and put that last year bully on the naughty list permanently."

Mrs. Jingle smiled, seeing that this girl still had her bravery and confidence within her. Laina took Jingle's cold paw in her hand, his freezing, almost-frozen hoof didn't seem to affect her much, "You never gave up on me and now, I won't give up on you. I'm coming with you, we're going to get those gifts back, and we're going to get your heart back as well, do you understand? Jangle's not winning this battle or any other battle that he throws at you. You're stronger than him than you know. Just fight against the cold as long as you can and don't give up, do you hear me?"

Jingle didn't respond, still shuddering under the blankets. Laina and Mrs. Jingle feared that he had gotten even colder by the speech, but he responded by slowly wrapping his fingers around Laina's tightly and spoke softly, "I promise…to keep fighting for as long as I can."

Laina smiled and released his paw to let him slide it back under the warm covers. Mrs. Jingle almost teared up seeing so much self-assurance in Laina. Noel and Joy were watching with wide-eyes from the doorway.

"Wow, I guess I take all that back about you being an ordinary human," Noel said, rubbing the back of his head, "You're the first human I've seen in awhile with a good and strong heart."

Joy giggled, "I told you, big brother, now do you think we could get going now before someone sees us? We won't get to Jangle's castle anytime soon by staying here."

Noel glared at his sister and made his way to the train engine. Feeling sure that Jingle was alright and feeling too warm, Laina moved out of the bedroom and into the living room area.

Joy pointed over to the couch and television set that hung on the ceiling in front of it, "Now you just make yourself comfortable and we'll be on our way to save Christmas."

The train jerked forward as it began to move and Laina fell onto the couch because of the unexpected movement. She sat up and looked through the window as the town seemed to move out of her sight. The last thing she saw was her house, and her room window still dark, before they went through the tunnel.

The sun sat halfway over the horizon, leaving the sky a bluish-gray with white fluffy clouds, but the sky began to darken as Jangle and his family passed over. His dozen of loyal packs of shadow dogs barked and bellowed as they ran on both sides or behind him, excited that they were nearing their home.

Jangle's icy abode began to appear from over the snowy hills. Using his frost magic and the snow and ice around him, he created the castle for him and his wife and he added more rooms when his children were born.

It was a massive building surrounded by large solid blocks of white ice and it stood in the middle of a humongous, flat frozen podium of ice that stood in the middle of a freezing-cold ocean. Tall, icy barred fences were placed on the outskirts of the castle just in case someone with the flying ability could make it over or if an intruder was able to walk on the clear, iced drawbridge.

Jangle made his cloud descend until it hovered just a few inches off the ground and it flew over the lowered ice drawbridge and through the frozen gates. As Jangle helped his wife and children off the black caravan cloud, the drawbridge slowly rose up and the gate closed, keeping intruders from entering the premises.

As his shadow dogs carried the gifts inside to their ice tree, Bangle, Durangle, Fandangle, and Narangle danced around their father's feet.

Narangle squealed, "Oh daddy, this is gonna be the best Christmas we ever had!"

"This is gonna be the only Christmas we ever had…stupid Nara." Bangle griped.

Fandangle pushed Bangle down into the snow, "You leave Nara alone, Bang."

"Go jump off a bridge, Fandan." Durangle grabbed on his brother by his small antlers.

Before you knew it, the children were pouncing and tackling each other, arguing and clawing wildly.

"Children, children!" Karangle clapped her paws to break up the fight. When that didn't work, she grabbed two small arms in one paw and another two in her other, "You stop this fighting right now or I'll have your father dispose of these toys immediately!"

"Now, now, dear, where's your holiday spirit?" Jangle helped his wife off of her knees, "The children are just excited about tomorrow morning, that's all. Why don't you get them ready for bed?"

"Very well," Karangle sighed, "You heard your father: upstairs with all of you. Morning won't get here any faster if you're still up and about."

She shooed her children inside the house. The foyer/living room area (just like the rest of the house) was entirely made of (you guessed it) snow and ice that would never seem to melt or chip and it didn't seem to affect Jangle or his wife and children.

As she hurried them upstairs, she heard something rolling and it bumped against her hoof. She looked down and saw what looked to be a toy telescope, "What's this?" she asked as she picked it up, "Looks like one of them got to one of the presents a bit early."

Jangle looked over the telescope and noticed Jingle's insignia on the side of it, "This is a magic telescope that my brother used to check up on all those brats waiting for him," he snickered as he peered through the eyepiece, looking at all the eager children already heading inside for evening, taking off their snow clothes and sitting near the fireplace or space heater while sipping hot cocoa.

"They think their merry reindeer is going to come with their precious presents," Karangle chuckled darkly, "They'll all find out wrong when morning comes 'round." She turned to head into the bathroom, hearing a lot of splashing and arguing going on, but she turned back to face her husband when he gasped loudly in displeasure and shock, "What's the matter?"

Jangle growled through his teeth as he saw a red and white train pulling small sleigh cars making its way up and over the mountain area, "Jingle's train! I-it's in motion! And it's taking the tracks that'll lead it here!"

"But that's impossible!" Karangle snatched the telescope away and looked through the eyepiece herself, also seeing Jingle's train moving on the tracks, "You put Jingle out of commission. How could he be controlling the train?"

Jangle took the telescope back, looking through it again, and smirked, "He's not. If he was driving it-." He zoomed in on cabin of the locomotive, "Looks like two of his helpers are heading our way…I see my sister-in-law trying to comfort her husband…but who's that pink-haired human girl?"

Jangle zoomed in specifically on Laina, who was chatting with Joy on hair tips, so his wife could see. "Humans," Karangle shuddered, "Such questionable and mysterious beings. Bleh…I don't see how they can go around in their smooth and furless flesh-"

"Hold on. Jingle's heart," Jangle took out the ice case that held Jingle's warm heart and watched it glow brightly and felt it vibrate in his grasp, "It seems to be beating. Looks like all of them, including the human, are very important to him. They must be on their way to try to get this and the gifts back."

Karangle laughed, "What a joke. They're actually gonna try to go against us? A group made of an ordinary reindeer who barely knows magic, a human girl, and two helpless helpers going against the king of the coldest heart and his ice queen. They'll be no match for us."

"Still…ordinary people can do extraordinary things," Jangle rubbed his chin as he began to think.

"Then let's go and freeze up the tracks," Karangle followed him upstairs to their crystallized bedroom.

Jangle shook his head, "That would be too easy. Right now, I'm too exhausted to fly out now that I'm in the comfort and safety of our home. And I would rather wake to hear the world's animal children sobs and cries and not miss the excited and playful look on my children's faces as they do whatever they pleased with all their new toys. Maybe I'll send my shadow dogs out to do the dirty work for me and give those meddlers a challenge that they will never pass."

Karangle was combing her long white hair, the only part of her that made others think she was pure and innocent, "What do you have in mind, Jangle? A vicious snowstorm with high and speedy winds and never-ending, falling snow?"

"A snowstorm is child's play, my dear," Jangle replied as he peered out the window through the telescope, getting Jingle's train in his sights again, "One of the children could think of that. No, no, I plan to do worse than a snowstorm. Hm…it seems they're heading for a native village of some sort in the mountains. That place is a checkpoint for my brother while he's doing his delivery rounds."

"A native, mountain village? That has to be a Tanu Village," Karangle said as she tied her hair up in crystal clip bows that her husband made for her for their anniversary, "Tanukies live in Tanu Villages in the immense areas. Before we were married, I enjoyed blowing brutal hailstorms or rolling avalanches on their homes or causing ice to crack and collapse under their feet when they go ice fishing, but now that I have you and the kids to look after, I haven't had any spare time to do that anymore. I'd wish I could do that all over again."

Jangle watched through the telescope as they neared the village and smirked evilly, "Then how would you like it if I made your wish come true?" He put the telescope down and let out a sharp whistle that made his wife jump.

Two black clouds moved across the sky toward Jangle's window. Slowly, they formed into two smoky-like, pearl-eyed shadow dogs and galloped across the sky. They flew into their master's room and obediently sat down without being told to do so, looking up at Jangle and waiting for him to issue a command to them.

Jangle patted the both of them on the head, "My loyal pets, I want you to make my precious wife happy," he smirked as he strapped a small bag around one of their collars, "Cause an 'accidental' avalanche on the Tanu village and, by any means necessary…stop that train."

"Yay! We're here! We're here!" Joy excitedly leaped from the couch and skipped into the bedroom to tell Mrs. Jingle.

Her thrilled squeal made Laina jolt awake from her sleep, "We're here where?" The train wheels shrieked as Noel pulled on the brakes, making Laina once again fall onto the floor from the sudden stop.

The Tanukies, who looked liked half dog, half raccoon creatures, were huge creatures who tend to live the old-fashioned way like living in sturdy huts and holding outdoor ceremonies during the holidays to keep their tradition alive, but the Tanukies have been allies of Jingle since he first began his selfless giving during Christmas many years ago and helped him out during his journey whether it was to give him shelter from a blinding blizzard or a warm meal to keep his tummy happy so his train was no strange thing to them.

Seeing the red and white locomotive pull up just a few yards away from their village, the Tanuki cubs ran towards it, giggling happily and excitedly. Some of the too excited ones headed to the sleigh cars and wondered why it was empty. The children were joined by their parents and grandparents and waited eagerly for Jingle to step out.

The door creaked open slowly, but instead of the jolly ol' reindeer, a female reindeer stepped out dressed warmly in a red and white winter parka. The children were far from disappointed as they greeted Mrs. Jingle with hugs and questions asking what had happened to Jingle and how come the sleighs were empty.

"One at a time, one at a time, children." Mrs. Jingle laughed gleefully as she tried to hug the children all at once.

Joy and Noel were immediately greeted by tight hugs by the younger cubs. Joy giggled and hugged back while Noel gagged, feeling as if he was losing oxygen.

Laina stepped out in her Jingle jacket and all Tanukies eyes were on her. She looked around nervously as she stepped down onto the ground. The Tanukies stared at this new creature either stepping back in slight fear or staying in their places and gazing on in curiosity.

Mrs. Jingle looked around and saw the uncomfortable looks on the Tanukies' faces, "Don't worry. She is our friend."

"Yes, I come in peace." Laina raised her hands and smiled timidly.

Understanding her and Mrs. Jingle, the older Tanukies smiled back and bowed a hello to her. The Tanuki cubs were still shy and on their guard. One of them eyed her treat bag that stuck out of her pocket and licked her lips hungrily. Laina saw the cub's glance, pulled out a peppermint stick, and handed it to her. The Tanuki cub took it slowly and slyly and began gnawing on it. Laina smiled and the other cubs saw that the new being was harmless and especially nice.

"I must speak with your Tanuki lord," Mrs. Jingle said to one of the villagers, "It is very urgent."

The Tanukies nodded and lead Mrs. Jingle and company toward the huts hidden behind the trees. "What about Jingle?" Laina asked.

Noel replied, "He should be alright. He's not going anywhere right now in his condition and trains come down these tracks once every blue moon."

The cub, that Laina offered the candy to, tugged on her hand and led her with her family to their village which was protected by a tall bamboo fence. The villagers' huts were round with circular, wooden sturdy walls and hay and straw covered roofs with a trail of smoke coming out of the hole in the middle of them. Tanuki families were decorating their homes and the rest of the village with red, white, and green flowers attached to leafy green yards of garland.

They were escorted to the Tanuki lord's hut, the largest hut that sat right in the middle of the village and had a large fire bonfire going just a few feet in front of it. "They must be preparing for their ceremonial dance. They always do performances on holidays like Christmas to ensure a safe and happy holiday and a better one in the future." Mrs. Jingle explained to Laina and the twins.

Past the pelt-curtain door and into the warm hut, they stood in front of the Tanuki lord. His fur was a light gray with a white belly, paws, muzzle, and a black and white striped tail. He had a very plump belly; Laina was amazed of how he could stand up from his throne so easily. His crown was a silver headband with small diamonds embedded around the front and side and a large one right in middle in the front.

He supported himself on a tall and strong wooden cane, the curved tip supported a small netted bag holding a small sack, a glass bottle of water, and another bottle full of a mysterious blue contents. Laina guessed it as either being the Tanukies lord medicine or perhaps an herbal wine.

Mrs. Jingle signaled to Laina and Joy and Noel to follow her movements as they walked to stand in front of him. She bowed and the three did the same. "It is so nice to see again, Tanuki lord," Mrs. Jingle said, "It has been a very long time since we've seen each other."

The words that villagers' leader said shocked and confused Laina as he spoke, "Ak xuj. No nocsemo oei rusb, Madam Jingle, udt no nocsemo oeih wiockc uj nocc."

"Do these people speak French," Laina whispered to Mrs. Jingle, "Or was that Japanese? Or Swedish?"

Mrs. Jingle laughed softly, "The Tanukies speak in an ancient language so old that it's nearly forgotten. They have been speaking in this tongue for thousand and thousands of years, but they can understand both their own and our English language."

Laina nodded and turned her head, her eyes greeting the close-up, brown eyes of the Tanuki lord. She jumped back in surprise and fell on her rear on the earthen floor, blinking rapidly up at him.

The Tanuki lord chuckled, "Je Jingle aj den omfceoadw ximud xocfohj?"

Mrs. Jingle helped Laina to her feet, "This is Laina, one of Jingle's very good friends. And we have her here with us for a reason," her face turned from a normal to a solemn expression, "You might want to take a seat, my lord. It's quite a story."

The Tanuki lord took his seat back on his throne, listening closely and making facial expression as Mrs. Jingle told about Jangle, how he locked all of them in the workshop and stole all the gifts and Jingle's warm heart, why Laina was with them, and how they traveled so far.

Then Mrs. Jingle concluded, "My poor husband is on the train right now. We are doing our best to keep him warm, but he will not return to normal until we get his warm heart."

The Tanukies who were listening outside the hut spoke to each other with fear and panic in their voices. The Tanuki lord stroked his small beard with a serious look on his face, "Kxuk aj ud unvic udt kohharco fhotasumodk udtoot. Uckxeiwx oeih zeihdoo xuj edco rewoud, oei nacc xulo ucedw kxo nuo. A zijk suddek faskiho u Christmas nakxeik Jingle…udt A nacc dek uccen kxuk ke xuffod. Aj kxoho udonuo kxuk mo foefco udt sud xocf? Muoro edo ev mo nuhhajh sud ujjajk oei?"

"Thanks for your concern and offer to help us, my lord, but this is a journey we must go on alone," Mrs. Jingle replied, "We know your warriors are strong and determined in battle, but I do not know what I would do if one of them got seriously hurt. After all, you are all like family to us."

As Mrs. Jingle and the Tanuki lord continued their conversation, Joy looked up at Laina and saw her face stuck with a look of confusion added with an arched eyebrow. The pink firefox giggled, "What's wrong, Laina?"

"…I still don't get what he's saying. Mrs. Jingle can understand him as if he were speaking English." she whispered to Joy.

"Jingle and Mrs. Jingle have studied their languages since they first met the Tanuki villagers, specifically this one," Noel explained, his green and white ears twitching, "Although they have some difficulty speaking the Tanuki tongue, they can understand. Sometime after Christmas, when Jingle first met the Tanukies, he taught them the English language for weeks and weeks but, just like the couple, they can only translate it by ear, not speak it."

Mrs. Jingle got to her feet, "Well, we better get going. Thanks for your hospitality and kindness."

"Uk coujk jkuo vej kuo sohomedo," The village leader walked over to the door, pulling the curtain back and showing the villagers were putting more firewood in the rising bonfire and villagers dressed in costumes with long, red and white feathers and sewn-on beads and sequins, "No nacc olod fhojodk u tudsadw hakiuc ke eih Tanuki jfahakj ke fcouco kxom udt ke xocf oei udt wiato oei veh oeih zeihdoo."

Joy jumped up and down, clapping, "A dancing ceremony? Oh please, Mrs. Jingle, can we stay and watch? Just for a little while?"

"We do have to give the locomotive time to cool down. If it overheats, there could be dire consequences," Noel said, "Besides, it's still early, Jingle's not going anywhere, the heat's on all over the cabin, and we can tell if Jangle's coming. Who knows, we might need this dance and the Tanukies spirits later on our travel."

Mrs. Jingle smiled a bit, "Alright, but only for a short while."

Joy cheered as she ran out the hut and found a seat on one of the shaved logs, seats positioned around the large fire. Mrs. Jingle and Noel followed the Tanuki lord to his seat. Laina came out the hut last and leaned against the wall, standing in a contemplative pose.

Noel turned to her, seeing her thinking rather hard, and went up to her, "Are you alright, Laina?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I got their language all figured out. I remember playing a video game that used a made-up language and maybe if I use that, they can understand me."

"If you say so." Noel shrugged with a smile as he took a seat next to Mrs. Jingle.

As Laina tried to decipher the coded foreign language in her head, a young feminine voice made her turn in its direction, "U ximud? Xen jkhudwo…ook vujsadukadv."

A female Tanuki stood in front of her. She was a womanly, inverted version of the Tanuki lord; she was white-furred with light gray paws, belly, and a white and gray striped tail and she was skinny. She wore a sling on her shoulder that was attached to a bag that was close to her chest. She also wore the same banded crown as the Tanuki lord, but it only had one, medium-sized diamond in the front.

It didn't take long for Laina to realize that the Tanuki girl was the Tanuki lord's daughter and princess of the village. Tensely, she bowed to the Tanuki girl and attempted to speak in her language as best as she could, "Xa…uhm…quf kxo suk?"

The Tanuki princess blinked a few times and laughed aloud. "Would it be easier if I just spoke in English?" She asked.

"Was I that bad?" Laina winced.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Well, at least you were honest."

"I apologize if I seem shy," the Tanuki girl bowed back, "You are the first human I have ever seen? What is your name?"

"Laina, and I come from the animal village of Anime to help Jingle."

The Tanuki girl ears lowered, "Yes, I have heard of what has happened to poor Jingle. It is very sad indeed. I hope you all succeed in getting the gifts and his heart back. And excuse my bad manners, my name is Tan-Xui."

"Nice to meet you, Tan-" Laina caught Tan-Xui's bag wriggling slightly and took a step back, "You have an attack dog in there or something?"

"It's just Shu-Xui." Tan-Xui giggled and opened the bag a little, showing her newborn cub. The dark-browned furred baby whimpered as he was exposed to the cold.

Laina's brown eyes lit up, "Aww! He's so cute! Who's the lucky father?"

"How about I talk to you more while we sit in a better seat to look at the dancing ritual?" Tan-Xui walked around to the back of her home.

Laina followed her, "What seat could be better than right in front of the event?" She stopped at a ladder and saw Tan-Xui climbing up toward the roof. She climbed up the ladder and crawled after her on the roof, amazed of how strong and sturdy the straw-covered roof was, until she was sitting next to her and looking down at the costumed Tanukies dancing around the fire, chanting their song of praise, protection, and good luck.

"Wow, this is a much better view," Laina sat at the edge, putting one leg over the other, "Are any of those male Tanukies your husband?"

Tan-Xui closed up the bag, but left a hole big enough for her child to get oxygen, and gently rocked the baby back to sleep, "Sadly, no. I have not seen my husband in almost two years now."

"What happened?" Laina looked up with worry, "If it's too personal, you don't have to tell me."

Tan-Xui looked up toward the light blue and orange sky, "My husband name is Shu-Lin. He was one of my father's greatest at the same age I once was and the sweetest and most loving Tanuki that I've ever met. Two years ago, he asked for my father for my hand in marriage and he accepted. We were wedded almost immediately. A few months after, I was pregnant Shu-Xui. A lot of terrible things were happening before our child was born; we had hailstorms so bad it shattered our rooftops and we had so many blizzards, we almost lost our men in a hunting trip and an avalanche engulfed our last village and we had to build a new one that took months to reconstruct. One day, our village telepath saw that the village was being attacked by an animal that have practiced frost magic and was using it against us to entertain her."

"Her? Frost magic?" Laina frowned, "Sounds like the work of Jangle's wife, Karangle."

Tan-Xui nodded, "Shu-Lin decided to hunt her alone to ensure the safety of not only Shu-Xui, but for the future of the whole village. He left for his hunt and I was only many days away from giving birth. He promised me he would return before Shu-Xui's birth…but he never returned. Some of the villagers try to dishearten me by saying that the awful snow queen froze him to death or that he was cowardly and living a hermit's life, too ashamed to return home. But I know neither of that has happened. He's out there…somewhere…I know because-"

"You feel it in your heart." Laina finished for her.

"That's right," Tan-Xui turned to her, "How'd you know I was going to say that?"

Laina smiled shyly and blushed, "Believe it or not, I have an animal boyfriend. He's a gray eagle named Quetzal and we've been on quite a few adventures. Anytime we were separated, like if I went out of town or if he goes on his month-long nature walks, we could tell right here," she put her folded hands over her vital area on her chest, "If one of us is alright or not and we'll rush right home to each other. So right now, I know how you feel. But don't let other people tell you what they think happened to him. If you feel in your heart that he's alright, then he's alright."

The Tanuki princess nodded, tearing up a bit, holding her chest like Laina, "And I just got the feeling that, wherever he is, he's missing me right now and wishing he could see his son right now."

Laina hugged her tightly, but carefully so as not to squish the baby, to comfort her as they continued to watch the dance down below.

Unaware to all of them, not too far away, two of Jangle's shadow dogs were creeping around the Jingle train, smelling the scents around it. The first shadow dog was sniffing the footprints in the snow. The scents told him that Mrs. Jingle, Laina, and Joy and Noel had left the train with a group of Tanuki and the missing odor of Jingle told him that he was still in the train.

The second shadow dog was peeking in the train cabin windows, looking and sneering at Jingle who was still shivering under the blankets in his bed. The first shadow dog tugged on his brother's tail, making him put all four paws on the snow, and reminded him that they had a job to do. He lay on the ground and used his forepaws to tug off the sack around his neck.

Four bluish-white crystal marbles and a black, hollow megaphone rolled out of the bag. The first shadow dog gave his brother the megaphone and he bellowed lowly, giving instructions as he stared at his brother, who held the megaphone in his muzzle, then up toward the mountain that hovered over the village.

The second shadow dog nodded and ran toward the mountain. The first shadow dog lapped up the crystal spheres in his mouth and they felt like ice cubes as he positioned them in his cheeks, then he galloped after his brother.

The second shadow dog gripped the megaphone handle tightly in his teeth as he leaped from ledge to ledge to the top of the mountain, carefully watching where he stepped. The first shadow dog stopped at the front of a tunnel that went right through the mountain's base. He took a deep breath and blew an icy mist on the tracks. The marbles in his mouth made his breath even colder, freezing up the train tracks as he blew on them and covering them in slippery ice.

He felt the marbles in his cheek 'melt', letting him know that the frost power in them was all gone. When he was satisfied at the ice-covered tracks, he leaped up the ledges to a lower point of the mountain where he could see his brother at the peak and the second shadow dog could see him down below and see his signal to blow the horn.

The dancing had stopped and the dancers were resting on the logs, sipping warm, honey-flavored tea. Laina and Tan-Xui had joined everyone not too long ago. It seemed the cubs had taken a liking to Laina since the cub who she offered the candy cane to bragged about it. Not able to stand the small cubs' cute and begging faces, she offered each one a candy treat.

"Where were you, Laina?" Joy slurped tea from her wooden mug, "You missed everything."

Laina smiled, looking towards Tan-Xui, "I wasn't too far away."

Tan-Xui smiled back. She turned to her father to tell about the newcomer when she noticed the solemn look on his face, then she became worried. The Tanuki lord started to get up, but Tan-Xui grabbed his paws and pushed them down, making him sit back in his place. "Father, uho oei jiho oei jxeict we?" Tan-Xui asked softly, "Oei udo dek uj oeidw uj oei ijot ke ro ke khufoc ke kxi jimmak."

"

"A nacc ro uchawxk, daughter," He nodded at her reassuringly, "A mijk khufoc ke kxo kef ke khub nakx kxo jfahakj ke odjiho kxo vikiho juvoko ev eih laccuwo…udt kxo hoseloho ev Jingle."

Tan-Xui stared at him for awhile, and then released his paws. Supporting himself on his cane, the Tanuki lord got to his feet and walked past the bonfire with his villagers watching him with worry and hope.

Laina leaned over to Tan-Xui, whispering, "Where is he going?" She followed her gaze to the mountain that was almost a walking distance ahead of them, "That mountain?"

"That's right," Tan-Xui said, gently petting Shu-Xui's head fur back, "It's the only way that my father or any Tanuki lord can speak to the late Tanukies in the heavens and ask them for their blessings."

"Maybe I should go with him," Laina stood up, "That's an awfully long climb."

"It will be no use. My father is stubborn when it comes to things like this," The Tanuki princess sighed, "We will just have to hope he does not come rolling down the mountain. He is really a good and wonderful man if you got to know him. Not only is he a great leader, but he is like a father or grandfather to everyone in the village. He has worked hard to raise me right since our mother left this world and been with me through the good times and the bad times. I've lost my husband…I don't think I would be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to him."

Noel dumped his and his sister's mug in a water basin that hung over a small fire, "Well, the performance was excellent, the tea was delicious, but now I'm afraid it's time we head on out now. It's getting dark."

Mrs. Jingle nodded and bowed to Tan-Xui, "Thanks again for your generosity. Tell your father that we'll be sure to come by and visit again."

The Tanukies walked with Mrs. Jingle and her group out of the village, wishing them good luck. Laina realized she couldn't take a step further, feeling something grab at the back ends of her jacket. She looked back and saw small paws from the Tanuki cubs clinging onto her, looking up at her with big sad eyes and whining softly.

She kneeled down to their eye level, petting one on the head, "Sorry guys, I have to go." The cubs tackled her before she could get up and hugged to her tightly, sobbing and begging for her to stay with them.

Laina sighed, "Looks like they're not gonna let me go," she mused to herself, "Not unless…I give them more candy." She was able to climb from their grasps and dug through her candy bag, "Let's see…there's twelve of them…and…one…two…four…eight…crap! I have exactly twelve candy canes left!"

Her sweet tooth was driving her crazy with greed and hunger, but looking at the cubs' faces, she sighed again, "Ah well…better to give than to receive anyway…" She gave up each candy cane to each cub and she received a small hug or a squeak of thanks in return. She began to feel a little better, chasing the green monster inside of her away.

"Aw, Laina, that was sweet of you," Mrs. Jingle was watching from the train cabin door, "It's not everyday that Tanuki children get candy."

Laina turned her treat bag upside down, watching crumbs fall out ad disappeared into the snow, then pocketed it in her coat pocket. "Well, I've done my good deed for the day," Laina said as she walked inside the cabin, "Except for saving Jingle, that is…"

Noel shoveled coal into the engine, pulled the brake lever, and pushed another lever forward, making the train move forward. He pulled on the whistle, making it scream a loud good-bye to the waving Tanukies beside the train tracks.

Laina had braced herself before the train jerked ahead and waved farewell to the Tanuki cubs. As the train began to pick up speed, she could see the Tanuki lord in the distance approaching the foot of the mountain.

Noel fed the engine fire a few more lumps of coal before looking up and seeing that there was a tunnel ahead. They were in the darkness of the rocky passageway for only a few minutes before appearing on the other side. Then the sound of something scratching across ice caught everyone's ears and the train slowed to a stop.

Laina looked around the room in wonder, "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Joy moved to sit next to her, feeling odd about the sudden stop, "But I don't like it."

Mrs. Jingle grabbed the speakerphone and spoke into it, "Noel, what is the matter? Is something wrong?"

Noel's ears twitched at Mrs. Jingle's voice coming from the speakerphone on his end and he picked up the microphone and responded, "I'm afraid we've stopped on some frozen tracks, Mrs. Jingle. I can recognize that scratching sound anywhere, but don't worry, I can fix the problem. Tell Joy and Laina to come out with buckets of hot water."

Joy ran into the bathroom at her brother's command and came up with two red buckets filled with hot water. She passed the other bucket to Laina who followed her outside in the snowy evening. Noel was already beside the train and bending over to look at the tracks. His lips made a thin line at the crystal clear ice coated on both tracks. He instructed to Joy and Laina to splash the tracks with the sizzling water until the ice was melted, "We won't be able to go anywhere unless these tracks are completely thawed out."

The girls went into a replicate sequence of filling the buckets up with warm water, rushing outside with the heavy pails, and then tossing the water out on the tracks, steam rising from them, then running back in the cabin and repeating it all over again.

"Is the ice almost melted, Noel?" Laina panted, "I'm getting really cold and breathing in the cold air makes it feel like I have needles in my lungs."

Noel shook his head, "You humans and yours weaknesses. Just a few more splashes of water oughta do it and then we'll be outta here."

Laina grumbled as she headed back into the bathroom, almost colliding with Joy who was coming out with a full bucket, and filled her bucket with warm water from the shower. She looked out the small window at the mountain not too far behind him, "I hope the Tanuki lord is alright…that's a long climb up…"

The Tanuki lord was using his walking stick to help him up the mountain side and grabbed onto ledges with his paws and feet as it got steeper. The shadow dog on top of the flat mountain top didn't notice the Tanuki leader coming up the flat peak, keeping his eyes on his brother below. The first shadow dog was having difficulty seeing as wind started to blow snow around at the high area he was in. He squinted his eyes and he started see a large red and white metal object and heard Noel commanding Joy and Laina to keep splattering the tracks with water. He smiled seeing that they had stopped right where he had blown the ice.

He turned to face the direction of where his brother was, sat on his haunches, and seemed to nod to him.

"Okay, we're all done," Noel smiled, "Now we can get this train-a-goin' again."

Laina let out a sigh of deep relief and dumped the water in her pail on the snow, watching steam rise from it. An eerie, distant howl sent a shiver through her whole body as she was about to climb into the cabin. She looked around, backing from the train, as she tried to find the location of the sound. She gazed up at the mountain when the howl returned to her ears for the second time and it was loud enough to get everyone's attention from everyone on the Jingle train to the villagers in the Tanuki village.

"What in the world is that?" Noel said as he tried to see the figure at the peak.

Laina climbed the ladder to the top the train cabin and shielded her eyes to get a better look. Her eyes widened when she recognized the black, cloudy canine figure holding a horn-like object and howling in it at the top of its lungs, "It's one of Jangle's shadow dogs!"

Noel growled through his teeth, climbing up next to Laina, "Well, we know that Jangle knows we're heading his way. I don't think he's anywhere near here; he would have more than two shadow dogs with him, but what are they trying to-"

Suddenly, the ground began to slightly shake under the train's wheels, making the locomotive shake slightly. All eyes were directed to the top of the mountain where they saw tons of snow beginning to roll down from the summit.

"Avalanche!" Joy screamed loudly in fright.

Mrs. Jingle looked out the window after Joy screamed and saw the waves of snow coming down, "Oh mercy! We are going to be buried alive!"

Noel didn't hesitate as he ran from the top of the cabin and into the locomotive, quickly preparing the train to move.

Laina still stood on top of the train. She was frightened, but time seemed to stand still as one thing popped in her mind and she gasped, "The Tanuki lord!"

She leaped from the train roof and landed on both feet on the snow, running as fast as she could through the tunnel to get to the other side of the mountain.

Joy peeked her head out an open window as she saw Laina running into the dark tunnel like a cat running away from a dog, "Laina? Where are you going?! Laina!"

"Joy, get back in here!" Mrs. Jingle pulled her back inside and rolled up the windows, "This is no time for horseplay. And Noel, I certainly hope you are not taking a coffee break in the engine." She yelled in the speakerphone.

"I'm setting it to go into reverse," he responded, "I'm working as fast as I can!"

Laina was so pumped from adrenaline and fear that she was running faster than normal and made it to the other end of the tunnel where the train as entered. The avalanche on the side of the Tanuki village seemed to be coming more slower than the one on the other side where the train was stuck.

She looked around frantically for the Tanuki lord, but saw him nowhere in sight. She screamed over the roaring of the charging snowslide, "Mr. Tanuki! Where are you?! Mr. Tanuki!" She quickly ran along the side of the mountain, keeping her eye on the white waves coming down.

Unfortunately her cries could not be heard from the Tanuki village as they were getting ready to brace for the avalanche. They had prepared themselves for Karangle's frost magic pranks or for any natural winter disasters after building their new village. Men were pulling huge, tall blocks of enclosed bamboo and support beams from the back of the village while woman and children retreated to their huts, praying to the spirits.

The Tanuki men pushed the bamboo blocks to stand up on their tall sides and used the support beams to keep them standing, forming a line that faced the roaring rolling snow with their backs facing the village.

"No! Wait!" Tan-Xui came running out, but one of the older women held her back, "My father's still out there! He won't be able to get in!"

They all heard her yell about her father and their leader, but looking at the fast coming snow, they heavily doubted that he survived it. Their focus on protecting the village was so strong that they didn't see Laina running along the mountainside and calling for the Tanuki lord, the avalanche rolling closer and closer to her position.

"I don't see him! Heaven forbid that he got farther up the mountain and is buried under all that!" Laina felt the rumbling under feet getting stronger and saw the waves of powder growing closer to her. She stepped back, her eyes widened in fear, but before she could turn to run, the ground under her foot disappeared, making her lose her balance and fall backwards. Next thing she knew, she was covered in darkness.

"Fhofuho oeihjocloj!" The 'second-in-command' Tanuki barked, "Ijo ucc oeih jkhodwkx udt fijx nakx ucc oeih mawxk!"

All the men nodded, bracing themselves against the joined bamboo blocks, an uncomfortable feeling waving around in their stomachs. With them standing side by side, the blocks made a long wall that would have almost matched the Great Wall of China.

The snowy waves rushed up and pushed against the walls with a strong force, making the support beams shake violently. Four of the beams weren't able to take shoving power of the never ending wave of snow and they fell to the ground and one began to splinter in the middle. The Tanuki men pushed themselves against the thick blocks, trying to keep them up. Another thrust from a powerful snow wave almost pushed the blocks onto the Tanuki men and sent some of the teenage boys rolling back, but they got back up, helping the men push blocks against the power of the thrusting snowslide. Not able to go through the makeshift avalanche fence, the waves of snow split in two, going left and right to the edge of the last blocks, still continuing to cover the forest, but avoid the village.

On the other side of the mountain, Joy and Mrs. Jingle watched horrified from the window as the avalanche came closer towards them.

"Hold on!" Noel screamed as he pulled back hard on the lever. The train wheels rapidly spun in reverse, jerking the train back and making his sister and Jingle's wife fall to their knees on the floor, and the train ran backwards into the tunnel just in time as the heavy snow wave fell on the tracks where the train was previously stuck and in front of the tunnel, sealing up the entrance. The train continued going into reverse until it came out the other end. Noel pulled on the brakes and the wheels immediately stopped rolling, creating sparks as they scraped against the tracks and slowed to the stop. Thankfully, falling snow from the avalanche didn't block the other end of the tunnel.

Noel deeply sighed in relief and leaped from the locomotive and into the cabin, "Is everyone alright?"

"I think so," Joy helped Mrs. Jingle to her feet, "Except where I'm bruised from head to toe."

Mrs. Jingle dusted herself and looked out the window, seeing them buried just below their last low limbs, "Oh no! The Tanukies village! The avalanche covered them up! Noel, get the shovels!"

"No need." Joy pointed to Tan-Xui and some Tanukies walking over the snow hill toward the train, "They looked shook up, but alright."

Mrs. Jingle exited the cabin and ran over to the villagers. Tan-Xui hugged her tightly, sobbing and shaking. She asked about the condition of the village and Tan-Xui replied that everyone and everything in the village was alright and explained about the emergency avalanche fences. "But my father's missing," Tan-Xui cried, "He was still heading up the mountain when the avalanche occurred."

Joy scratched her head, "It's still weird for an avalanche to happen randomly like that."

"It didn't happen randomly," Noel said, "Laina and I saw one of Jangle's shadow dogs on the top of the mountain and he blew a weird-lookin' bullhorn and-"

"Hold on a second," Mrs. Jingle looked around, noticing something, "…where's Laina?"

Laina stirred slowly and opened her eyes, blinking tears of pain. She slowly sat up and reached up to rub at the painful twinge at the back of her and felt something textured tied at that area and all the way around her head.

"It is alright now. We are now safe." A masculine voice startled her. She tried to see where the voice was coming from, but her vision was blurred.

"Wh-who are you?" She asked, still rubbing at the ache in her head. Her vision slowly cleared and she saw something furry and gray appearing in front of her, "T-Tanuki lord! You're alive!" She jolted up, but laid back down when the ache in her head got worse.

"Yes I am very much alive," The gray Tanuki walked over to where his cane laid against the wall. He reached in the small sack in his net bag and pulled out a small white paper wrap, then walked back toward her, "Stick your tongue out. This powder will take pain out of your head."

Laina was a little skeptical; for all she knew, he was giving her poison, but the headache was becoming annoying and any ally of Jingle couldn't be bad like that. Reluctantly, she stuck her tongue and watched as the Tanuki lord poured the white powder on her tongue. She cringed as she swallowed the bitter powder and drank the water from the bottle he gave to her.

As she handed the bottle back, she looked around and noticed they were in a wide cave. Lighted lanterns hung on both sides of the walls, driving away the darkness. She looked down and saw she laid in a hammock that was hung from the walls and a small narrow hole above it held a few books, making a makeshift bookshelf. "Where are we?" she asked, "And you speak English?"

"This is meditation lair," The Tanuki lord replied, "I come here to meditate after ceremonial dance to maybe contact and talk to ancestors' spirits. And yes, I speak English, but not well."

Laina started to feel the headache in her head fade away and lied back down in the hammock, beginning to feel relaxed, "How'd we get here?" Her memory came back to her and she gasped, sitting back up, "The avalanche! Th-the last thing I remembered I was looking for you, then I saw the avalanche coming at me. I was gonna run, but then I remember falling backwards and hitting my head on something. I thought I was buried under tons of snow."

"You came looking for me?" The Tanuki lord looked at her, "But why?"

"Your daughter…she-maybe I should start from the beginning," Laina laid back down, "Tan-Xui told me about the tough times she had after her husband's disappearance and said she would blame herself if something happened to you. That's why I came looking for you when the avalanche happened."

"For Tan-Xui, you came looking for me?"

Laina nodded, "Tan-Xui told me that you were the greatest leader and father and grandfather ever. When I saw that avalanche…it's weird, but, the first thing that came to my mind was you. I guess what Tan-Xui said came into my head and I thought how I would feel if I lost my father and grandfather."

"So you came to save me even when you knew dangers you would face from the avalanche?" The Tanuki lord walked to her, smiling, "In all my years, I have never seen someone, human or animal, with so much compassion."

Laina blushed, smiling shyly, "So how'd we end up here?"

The Tanuki lord reached under the hammock and pulled out a bowl of forest fruit and shared it with her, "On the way up mountain, I heard low, but loud noise. Snow on top of mountain very sensitive to sound and cause avalanche. When I heard strange sound, I saw snow beginning to fall and ducked into cave. I heard rumbling of coming avalanche and prayed to ancestors to keep my daughter and people safe. Then I heard voice of you calling me, but I thought my head was playing tricks with me. Then I heard loud thump and it became dark when snow covered entrance. I walked to entrance and saw you lying on the ground lifeless. I thought the snow had gotten you, but it turns out you hit head on hard ground so I wrapped your head and laid you in bed until you came to."

"So I planned to come save you, but you saved me instead," Laina laughed a bit, "Thanks, Tanuki lord."

The Tanuki lord nodded to her, "And thank to you, Laina, for coming to seek for me. For, as what you humans say, it is thought that counts."

Their heads tilted up when they heard loud thumping sound above them, making rubble break off from the ceiling and they heard Tan-Xui and Mrs. Jingle's voice.

"Are you sure it was right here that you heard your father's voice here, honey?" Mrs. Jingle's voice was muffled above them.

Tan-Xui answered, "I am sure. Or both my ears and mind are fooling me."

"No! We're here!" Laina shouted and flailed, "We're here! Just go down some! You'll see the hole!"

The Tanuki lord calmed her down, "Settle, Laina, settle. They will find us."

They heard shoveling sounds near the entrance and walked towards it. They saw a tip of a shovel, then it moved out the way, letting luminous rays from the full moon gleam down on them, then the brown eye of a Tanuki, "Kxoo uho tend oxho!"

More shovels dug into the specific area of the snow until the hole was uncovered. The men helped their leader and friend out of the deep cave as families clapped and rejoiced. Tan-Xui ran and hugged her father tightly and Laina was tackled by Joy and Noel.

Joy hugged her tightly around her neck, "Laina, are you alright? We thought we lost you."

"What were you thinking?! Running into an avalanche like that," Noel growled, "Did you have a death wish or something?"

"It was foolish, but took bravery," the Tanuki lord explained to everyone how Laina faced the rolling white snow waves to find him and ended up falling into his meditation cave.

Laina laughed, "So instead of me saving him, it's the other way around."

"But we are still very thankful. We would probably still be searching for him right now. He would have been in a strong meditative trance during and after the avalanche. In his trance, he would have been in peace with himself and would not have been able hear anything," Tan-Xui walked up to Laina and hugged her, "Thank you for your bravery."

The Tanukies walked with Mrs. Jingle and the others back to the Jingle train while more men with shovels hurried to the other side of the mountain to unblock the tunnel. The Tanuki children sat inside the train with their new heroine and older Tanukies sat in the bedroom with Mrs. Jingle worrying and praying over Jingle while Noel moved the train at a slow speed of five miles per hour with some of the adolescent Tanukies hanging onto the ladders and connectors of the train as it moved slowly or walked along side it.

They entered the tunnel again and it seemed darker than it was when they first entered it. Noel slowed it to a stop when he saw the men still shoveling snow out of the tunnel. It was all clear and they just had to shovel the piles of snow off the track.

The last mound of cold powder was off the train tracks and the men stood to the side. Noel moved the train all the way out of the dark tunnel before stopping to let everyone off. Every Tanuki made sure they got another good-bye hug from Mrs. Jingle and Laina and gave them more wishes of good luck.

Laina waved to them from the back window as the train moved forward again until it disappeared in the nighttime shadows of the forest trees.

Tan-Xui walked with her father behind the villagers as they headed back toward their home, "So she actually came to save you? She is different from any other human I've met."

The Tanuki lord saw something in the sky caught his eye and directed him to look up. He smiled at the Aurora lights that shimmered above like colorful crystal flags. That was a sign that his ancestors were pleased at what they saw, "Whether she know it or not, Laina has the same heart as Jingle's"


	5. Chapter 3

**Animal Crossing**

_The Jingle Express_

_Chapter 3_

(_Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle and his Shadow Dogs, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, Fandangle, Spike, Razor, and the Forgotten Wolves are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo. )_

Jangle growled, almost crushing the telescope in his hold, as he watched the Jingle train go through the tunnel and travel into the trees and the Tanukies began shoveling the large pile of snow away from their village.

"I can't believe this," he snarled, "That plan was supposed to be foolproof and they escaped without using any source of Jingle's magic! How could it be possible?!"

Jangle's outburst caused Karangle to slightly stir in her sleep, but she just turned on her side, pulled the blankets closer to her, and fell right back asleep. He sighed in relief and tiptoed to the bedroom next door, their children's room, and saw that his angry shouts didn't reach their ears.

"Ah, look at my sweet children. For once, they are dreaming of sugarplums. I can't wait to see the happy look on their faces when they play with their new toys, then destroy them when they grow bored. Their glee shall be my glee," he gently closed the room door and moved back to peer out his room window, watching Jingle's train continue his course toward his icy mansion, "But my happiness won't last long knowing those pest are still heading our way. Hmm? What's this?"

The dark-eyed reindeer turned the telescope to a deserted and rickety town that was many miles ahead of the tracks. He could see smoke coming from the town square and zoomed in on it. He saw wolves dressed like young street thugs sitting around the large bonfire, drinking ale from the bottle and singing bar songs.

"Ah, the Forgotten Wolves," Jangle smiled, "It sure is comforting that they are some other people who find Jingle's thoughtful giving so sickening," he yawned, "I'm so tired and I really don't feel like messing with those annoying fools that my brother calls 'family and friends'…so, I think I'll take this time to give those poor wolves a tip of Jingle's arrival."

He sat at his table and wrote the message on a black sheet of colored paper with a light blue crayon:

To The Forgotten Wolves,

I am 8 years old and a huge fan. Just like all of you, I hate and despise Jingle as much as all of you do. But I'm not writing to rant. I just thought I let you know that Jingle's train is heading to your area. Give Jingle a huge Christmas wallop for me.

An Anonymous Fan

"I better not whistle for my shadow dogs and risk waking Karangle and the children," he folded the letter messily, trying to make it look this letter was sent by a child with no Christmas spirit and stuffed it in a black envelope, "I guess using a little frost magic before bed wouldn't hurt."

Jangle moved to the bedroom window and held up the envelope in front of his face. He gently blew on it, making a cool and icy wind come from between his lips. The wind swirled around the envelope and, when he released it, the envelope floated in mid-air in the middle of the small cyclone of wind. He blew on it again, sending it flying out the window and up into the clouds. He watched it disappear over the wide moat and over the sea of snow-covered trees before closing the window and climbing into bed.

The wind carried the envelope many miles toward the village. The envelope freely danced in the gust of wind like an ice pixie performing ballet. As it began to near the village that the Forgotten Wolves had inhabited, the gust of wind disappeared and the envelope spiraled down toward the town.

The gang of wolves was dancing drunkenly around the large fire, whooping and hollering like wild Indians readying for war, and threw darts at a picture of Jingle that was pinned up on the dartboard. They were too busy in their own fun to notice the falling envelope that was nearing closer and closer to the bonfire.

But one wolf, the leader of the Forgotten Wolves, noticed something falling from the amber colored sky and grabbed it before it fell in the fire. The leader was a thick-furred, gray wolf dressed in a pair of jeans, a denim vest and a red bandanna around his head.

He sniffed at the envelope, unable to determine the scent, and curiously opened it. He unfolded the crumpled letter and read it with his eyes. When he read the last two sentences, he grinned so widely that it got the attention of one of his comrades. He walked up to his leader, "What's up, Razor?"

He held up the letter, "We gotta tip from a fan." He stood up on the roof of a broken down house and whistled to get everyone's attention. All heads turned up toward the leader wolf and wondered what all the fuss was about.

"My fellow brothers, the sweet smell of revenge is growing near," Razor announced, "Jingle's train is heading right this way and this year…we're gonna make sure we get what we deserve."

The wolves roared and howled loudly with agreement. Razor waved his hands to quiet them back down, "When the train comes near here, we're gonna use our hooks and pull ourselves up on the train and dump them in town. We're gonna have a Christmas this year whether Jingle likes it or not."

Noel came from the bedroom after checking on Jingle and his wife looking miserable. Joy peered over the couch arm and looked down at her twin brother, "How's Jingle?"

The green firefox shook his head slowly, "It's like he's getting colder and colder every minute. I had to cover him up with more blankets. Poor Mrs. Jingle had cried herself to sleep in her chair."

Joy's ears drooped, "This isn't fair. Why is Jangle so mean? What does he have against Jingle and the Christmas holidays?"

"He's just a mean and hateful Scrooge that's never been visited by the ghost of the past, present, and future, Joy. That's all I can say." Noel was about to return to the engine room until he noticed a cool breeze blowing inside the train cabin. He turned to where the direction of the wind was coming from and saw Laina standing at the end of the cabin with the door open.

As he walked up to her, Joy felt herself getting cold and decided to join the Jingles' in the bedroom. He slowly approached her so as not to startle her, "Penny for your thoughts, kid?"

"Those sleds…it's so weird." Laina was looking at the long line of sleigh-shaped cars that the train was pulling along, "I remember reading picture books to the kids about Jingle and in the pictures the sleighs were full with bags upon bags of gifts and now…just seeing empty like this before delivering gifts…it's just sad."

Noel climbed up to Laina's shoulder and comforted her with a hug around her neck, "I know it is, but just don't give up hope. When we get to Jangle's place, we're gonna give him a very disturbing wake-up call and get those presents back."

"I hope so. I just hate to imagine those kids waking up and seeing that Jingle didn't come down their chimney even if they had been good all year. I have a bunch of little ones back in my town visiting their aunts and uncles. In fact, I have a letter from one of them in my pocket." Laina pulled back her jacket and showed the pink envelope in her inner pockets. The envelope flapped violently in the wind and was able to slip free from the pocket and flew from Laina's grasps.

"Oh no!" Laina watch the pink envelope fly ahead of her, then a change in the wind current made it dive bomb into one of the last sleigh cars, "I gotta get that letter. I promised Valerie I would give her letter to Jingle."

Noel shook his head, "Not on your life, Laina! You step out there and you'll go flying off into the snow and it takes a mile for this thing to come to a complete stop. And we're kinda in a hurry in case you forgot."

"But-I gotta!" Ignoring Noel's warnings, Laina climbed over the safety fence, the cold wind flying in her face, and leaped into the first sleigh car. Noel watched with wide eyes and a gaped mouth as Laina prepared to jump to the second car. He closed his eyes when she leaped from the first car, afraid that she would miss and he would hear her screaming when she flew off the train. He peeked through the openings of his fingers and saw that she had safely made it to the second sleigh.

He sighed in deep relief and shook his head, "She's so reckless, yet she has heart. Well, I better go see if we can slow this train down."

The green firefox headed back inside, keeping the door open and back into the engine room where he slowly pulled on the brake lever to slow the train down. As Laina prepared to jump to the next sleigh, one of the wolves from The Forgotten Wolves gang watched the train from the top of the tallest tree on the outskirts of the town. He spoke into the walkie-talkie given to him, the only communication access he had with his leader, "Razor, get this. The train's riding on the track like a normal train."

The walkie-talkie clicked and Razor responded, "What? Wonder why he's taking the long way around the world…" he sounded confused.

"You think it's a trap?" The wolf asked, climbing up to the very top of the tree to get a better look.

"I'm not sure. See if you can see who's on the train." Razor said before clicking off.

The wolf placed a hand over his eyes and squinted to get a good look at the train's passengers. He saw Noel at the engine and Joy and Mrs. Jingle sitting in the bedroom window. He didn't see Jingle since he was lying down and hidden underneath thick blankets or Laina who ducked down in one of the sleigh cars after almost falling off.

The wolf snickered as he spoke back in the walkie-talkie, "Get this, Razor. It's just Jingle's old lady and two of his scrawny helpers on board. No sign of Jingle in sight."

Razor had an evil smile on the other end of the walkie-talkie, "Excellent. I don't think either of them has the same magic like Jingle so taking care of them will be easy. And this would be perfect to try out our new secret weapon," He looked back at a huge fur that towered him over. Its eyes glowed red underneath the shadow of the trees and it snarled and barked viciously as it wanted to be let loose. Two wolves had to hold it steady with ropes that were tied around his neck like a choke chain.

"Patience, slugger, patience. You'll be let loose soon." Razor said calmly to the huge creature before him and spoke back in the walkie-talkie, "When the train gets close to your position, give the signal."

Back in the bedroom, Joy added another blanket to the 12 thick blankets that already buried the half-frozen Jingle. She sat in a chair near the window, the opposite side of where Mrs. Jingle sat, and peeked through the window. She turned her head when she heard Mrs. Jingle shifted in her chair.

The female reindeer groggily lifted her head, groaning sadly. She saw Joy and quickly rubbed her eyes free from tears.

Joy smiled, "Don't worry, Mrs. Jingle. We just have a few more miles to go before we reach Jangle's home," she slowly tugged on the curtain wire, opening the curtains and letting a bit of the evening sun rays in the room, "And look, there's still plenty of time before night falls."

Feeling pale from sitting in the darkness, Mrs. Jingle moved over and peered out the window at the large snow field. That's when she saw the decrepit and torn up town on the hill in the distance and recognized who or what made that kind of destruction.

The pink firefox saw the worry in Mrs. Jingle's eyes, "What's the matter?"

"The Forgotten Wolves," Mrs. Jingle whispered so as not to stir her husband, "They're near."

"The…Forgotten Wolves?" Joy blinked, "Who are they?"

"They're a gang of vicious lupine nomads," Mrs. Jingle explained, "They travel to a village, chase everyone out, including the mayor, then they stay there destroying everything, drinking heavily, and doing whatever they please. Then when they get tired of their torn-down town, they move to the next town and do it all over again."

"That sounds awful," Joy gasped, "But they shouldn't attack us, right? Are they territorial?"

Mrs. Jingle continued, "The Forgotten Wolves have been around for a very long time, Joy, since the beginning of time. They weren't called the Forgotten Wolves in the beginning though. They didn't adapt to that name until after the first Christmas. Long ago, after word about Jingle giving gifts every Christmas got around, those gang of wolves, who were just as vicious and ruthless as they are now, wanted gifts too. They made a Christmas list that was a mile long and sent it to Jingle. When he got it and read it, along with their selfish wants were vulgar language and threats. Jingle wouldn't stand for that. That's when he began to give coal to all those who were naughty. When the wolves opened their gifts and saw that they all got coal along with a note from Jingle saying to be good for next year, they all despised him and they vow to take gifts from him instead of asking for them. They're more into taking what they want other than obeying orders to earn things they want so every year, they try to take the gifts as he travels around the world on Christmas Eve, but he would always foil their plans. With Jingle being too ill to perform his magic, I'm not sure if we would be able to dodge them."

"Doesn't look like much going on in the town right now," Joy squinted her eyes to get a closer look, "Maybe we shouldn't worry."

While Mrs. Jingle and Joy searched around for any oncoming wolves, Laina had leaped in the second to last sleigh car where she found Valerie's envelope beside a toolbox on the floor of the car. "There you are, you little scamp," she reached down and pocketed the envelope in her inner pocket once again. She sat up in time to hear a wolf howl in the distance. She looked around to search for the howling and saw nothing at first, then she looked up toward a forest on the hill and saw massive group of dark-toned furs coming down the hill.

Joy saw the furs in the distance and recognized them, "It's The Forgotten Wolves! They're heading this way!"

"Noel, speed the train up as fast ass you can!" Mrs. Jingle yelled in the speakerphone, "The Forgotten Wolves have found us!"

"But, Mrs. Jingle, Lai-" Noel forgot everything he was going to say at the sight of the gang of wolves charging at them. He immediately released the brake and shoveled more coal into the fire.

Laina knew that they were in danger when she felt the train speeding up and sat down in the sleigh car, holding on tight. She looked to her right and saw the wolves were catching up with the train, running their fastest along the side of the sleigh cars. One wolf jumped on the car that Laina was sitting in and growled at her viciously. Laina slowly crawled back, reaching down to the toolbox on the ground and grabbing the handle of the mini mallet. The wolf reached for her and she brought the mallet down on his head, making it howl in pain and tumble back in the snow. Another wolf grabbed onto the right side of sleigh. Laina quickly slammed the mallet on his finger and watched him go flying off.

"Razor, they're getting away!" One female wolf shouted as the train gained speed, leaving them in a white, snowy cloud.

Razor still had his smirk on his face with his arms crossed, "Don't worry. It's all taken care of." He looked back at his two buddies who were still holding onto the ropes off the huge beast behind him, "Release the monster."

The wolves let go of the ropes at his command and another howl filled the air, but this one was louder and sent chills down Laina's spine. She looked toward where it came from and her eyes widened at the size of a 6 to 7 foot, massively muscular, yellow eyed wolf charging at the train on all fours, drooling massively.

Laina screamed at the top of her lungs as she stood to climb in the next sleigh car toward the train, "Monster! Monster! Coming this way!"

Joy and Mrs. Jingle saw what Laina was screaming again. Joy jumped up with a yelp and ran to the engine room to help her brother. Mrs. Jingle was frozen in fear and placed a hand over her open mouth, "Oh my word…"

Noel was shoveling coal into the engine as fast as he could. Joy grabbed an armful of coal since there was no extra shovel and tossed them into the fire from a distance so as not to get burned.

Laina had to keep her head down to avoid the icy cold winds that blew in her face from the train's speed, but she stayed on her feet and clung tightly on the mallet's handle in case anymore wolves should try to jump in the sleigh car.

Although the train was going its fastest, the huge wolf slowly caught up until he was right behind the last sleigh car. He lunged forward and grabbed the edges of the sleigh car with his legs and feet flying in the air. He kicked his legs until the bottom of his feet dragged his heels into the ground, kicking up snow and dirt and splintering the wooden tracks as he used his brute strength to bring the train to a complete and sudden halt.

Everyone in the train was thrown forward. Noel and Joy were slammed against the wall of the train. Noel fell to the floor semi-conscious and Joy landed safely in a pile of coal. Mrs. Jingle landed on the bed hard right next to her shuddering husband. Laina lost her balance and tumbled backwards, slamming her head against the side of the sleigh car and falling to the floor motionlessly.

The gang of wolves shouted victoriously as they ran up to the stopped train. Mrs. Jingle quickly got to her feet when she heard the lupine mob approaching and locked all the doors and windows. Joy dragged her brother into the train cabin before Mrs. Jingle locked the door to the train engine.

The wolves jumped to the windows, laughing and whooping loudly, and made vulgar signs and hideous faces at the frightened three inside the cabin. They pulled and yanked at the door and clawed at the windows, but they wouldn't open.

Razor patted the huge wolf that was panting heavily, and walked up to the other wolves that were still trying to force themselves into the doors and clawing at the windows.

"It's no good, boss," one of the wolves said to Razor, "The doors are locked tight and I bet the windows ain't the breakable kind."

The wolf leader turned his head to look in the window to see a worried female reindeer and a pink firefox using one arm to hold up a green and dazed firefox and another to pull down her bottom eyelid while sticking out her tongue. "Don't worry," Razor chuckled, "It's all taken care of. Spike?"

The huge wolf lifted his head when he heard his name being called and began to trudge up to Razor like an obedient pet dog. The wolves around him backed away as he slowly walked up to the train cabin. Most of the wolves were frightened of Spike's bulkiness and decided to keep their distance by staying by the sleigh cars. As one wolf stepped back, he noticed an arm sticking out the side of one of the sleigh cars.

"Spike, my little brother," Razor stared up at the huge wolf, "Be a good boy and rip the roof off this train for me."

Without hesitation, Spike leaped up on the train cabin and grabbed the edge of the roof. Mrs. Jingle and Joy ducked down to their knees when they watched the bigger wolf leap up on the cabin, then they looked around when they heard a sound of metal slowly being ripped away.

The train cabin quaked violently and the sound of splitting metal got louder. Mrs. Jingle hugged Joy and Noel to her protectively. She felt a strong cold wind blowing in from above and looked up in horror at Spike who had peeled back the train cabin roof.

A few wolves leaped up to the opening and jumped into the train cabin, taking ahold of Mrs. Jingle, Joy, and Noel.

Razor instructed for the rest to stay outside and keep watch, and then he too leaped up to the edge of the opened roof, gave his younger brother another hearty pat on the back, and jumped inside the cabin.

The wolves held Mrs. Jingle and the firefox twins in front of them, holding their arms behind their backs. "Well, well, what do we have here? Jingle's old lady and his two of his pet rats riding all alone in the snowy wilderness. You guys must have a death wish or something to come this way."

"We're not rats!" Noel cried angrily before he was pushed hard to the ground, "And we're not alone. We've got some help with us!"

Razor put his fists at his sides, "Is that so? Then where are they? Are they invisible or smaller than you two rodents?" he snickered, "And no sign of Jingle. He must've turned yellow and stayed home and left you three in charge when he heard we'd be hunting him down, am I right?"

"Look who we found, boss!" The wolf leader looked up as two of his allies came out the back room dragging the shuddering Jingle by his arms, "We found him under the covers, sniveling like a baby."

Mrs. Jingle, Joy, and Noel gasped when the wolves dropped Jingle to the ground. The freezing reindeer landed with a heavy thud and laid their shivering, not even making an attempt to get up.

"Look at him. He's frozen in fear before me." Razor walked up to Jingle and picked him up by his back collar, "What's the matter, old man? Do I frighten you?"

Mrs. Jingle's eyes brimmed with tears, "Please don't hurt him. He's really sick. We don't have the gifts with us right now. They've been stolen. We're on our way to retrieve them. Once we get them back…we'll exchange half the gifts for our freedom."

"No presents, huh? That is a disappointment. We might not have presents, but we have your husband here and that seems to be just as good." Razor lifted Jingle over his head, "So you gotta little cold? That's too bad, but don't worry, we're gonna have ourselves a Christmas barbeque and that should warm you up in a hurry."

"A Christmas…barbeque?" Joy didn't like that evil look in the wolf's eyes or the way he said the sentence and couldn't understand of how a barbeque could be held in the winter.

It didn't take Mrs. Jingle long to figure out what Razor was planning, "Razor, don't do anything too radical. Jingle's in no condition-"

"He doesn't even have to lift a finger," The wolf leader dropped the freezing reindeer, motioning two of his comrades to pick him up by the arms, "He can just sit and watch antlers roasting on an open fire. What do you say, boys? Who's up for a reindeer roast?"

The wolves responded with loud shouts of agreement, pumping their fists in the air and howling in approval. The sound died down as two more wolves from outside came in dragging in another individual and dropped her lifeless body at Razor's feet, "Look what we found outside, boss. It was in one of them sleigh cars behind the train."

"Hmm…" Razor kneeled down, rubbing his chin as he examined the new creature, then he picked her up by her back shirt collar, showing all the wolves a furless being dressing in Jingle wear and pigtailed pink hair.

Mrs. Jingle gasped quietly, "Laina? How'd she get outside?"

"A letter flew out her hand when she was standing at the back door," Noel whispered, "I tried to stop her but she walked out on the sleigh cars anyway to try and get it back. She must've been still in the cars during the whole chase and sudden stop."

Joy whimpered as Razor began to look Laina over and other wolves nearby began poking at her body, "She's not moving…I hope she isn't seriously hurt…"

One by one, the Wolves began speaking to Razor:

"But what with a human want with Jingle?"

"I thought all humans believed in…whats-his-name? Santy Claus?"

"You think she's with Jingle, boss?"

"Nah, doubt it," Razor threw Laina's limp body into the waiting arms of his two comrades, "Looks more like a scrawny stowaway that was able to catch a ride on one of those cars back there. We can leave her here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, boss?"

The Wolf leader snickered, "What is she gonna do? Come flying down on us on her broom and cast a magic spell on us? That's all myths, you morons. Humans are as plain and simple as the white snow outside. She's no threat to us, but I'm sure Spike would love to keep her as the conductor of his new train."

Spike, who was still standing on the edge of the hole in the train cabin roof, held his head up when he heard his older brother say the words 'new train' and caused everyone to scatter as he leaped down in the cabin, making it shake.

Razor smiled, "That's right, little brother. Your own train. And real one at that. Merry Christmas, Spike. You finally got your first Christmas gift."

Despise Spike's size, the towering wolf wagged his tail happily like a puppy and hugged Razor tightly. The Wolves laughed and teased until Razor pushed the overgrown wolf off of him, snarling at him. Spike carefully backed away and stared with sad eyes that said sorry.

"And as for our Christmas gift," The Wolf leader pointed to Mrs. Jingle and the two firefox helpers, "Once we get rid of this old geezer, we'll leak info from these three to Jingle's hangout and that'll be our permanent home. We'll force those helpers of Jingle's to make gifts for us and only us. Christmas will be our own personal holiday."

Noel growled loudly, "You selfish dog!" The green firefox bit down hard on the wolf that held him, making him yelp and release him. Noel charged at Razor and leaped toward him with his claws extended, but his muzzle was met with the back of a fist and he flew back, hitting the wall and fell to the floor, withering in pain.

"Noel!" Joy yelled when her brother was mobbed by the Wolves. They held him down as Razor walked over to him while rubbing his sore knuckles. Noel struggled and squirmed in the wolves grip. Although he was extremely angry and his adrenaline was high, the four foot red panda was no match for the strong lupines.

Razor sneered down at Noel and began stomping down on him. Noel grunted and howled in pain as he felt a heavy boot strike him in his muzzle and stomp on his chest, legs, and tail and the wolves holding him down made sure he couldn't get up. Joy was screaming at Razor to stop and show her brother mercy. Tears flowed down her cheeks each time she heard Noel yell out in pain. Jingle turned his head to Noel's cries and recognized him. He reached his hand out as if he was trying to extend his arm and pull the green firefox out of harm's way, but he was so weak and in so much pain that he could do nothing but lie there and watch, his tears turning into icicles. Laina was still unconscious during the whole thing.

"Razor, please! Stop this instant!" Somehow, Mrs. Jingle's plead got to Razor's ears and he stopped, holding his foot in the air right over Noel. His ear was swiveled back toward Mrs. Jingle, signaling to her that he was listening.

"I'll make an agreement with you and the Wolves. You release us all and…and I'll show you to the Polar Powder Station," Joy looked back at Mrs. Jingle in disbelief, but she continued on, "Our home, our workshop, it'll be all yours if you release us, including my husband."

Razor placed his foot back on the ground. He stayed silent for a few seconds, then he began to chuckle and turned his head to look at the female reindeer, speaking smoothly, "Alright, it's a deal, Mrs. Jingle. We'll take everything from you…everything you own…right **_after_** we dispose of Jingle."

Mrs. Jingle could do nothing but gasp and stare wide eyed at the cynical wolf as he commanded his comrades to pick up their prisoners and heave them back to the town. The Wolf holding Mrs. Jingle hauled her over his shoulder and headed out the cabin while another one held Joy and Noel under his arms tightly and followed the first Wolf.

As everyone began to head back to the village, Razor walked up to Spike, dragging the still unconscious Laina "Have fun with your new train, little brother. Look, it even comes with a human conductor."

Spike backed away when his older brother held up Laina's body by her arm. "Don't be such a weak baby," Razor griped, "She's out cold and, if she were awake, she'd be more afraid of you." He dropped Laina to the ground, "Do big brother favor, Spike. If she does wake up and start to cause a racket-." Razor moved his finger quickly across his neck in one swift motion.

The huge wolf nodded as he panted ferally. He waited for Razor to leave before scooping Laina up in his jaws, exiting the train cabin through the opposite exit, and up to the cooling train engine. He slid the pigtailed girl in through the side window and had her propped up with her head and one arm hanging out the window. Spike was starting to wish she could wake up so she could tug on the whistle rope.

Back at the Forgotten Wolves village, Wolves who had rushed after hearing Razor's plan had broken down the bulletin board in the middle of the town and were piling planks and logs on top of it. They cheered as they saw Razor coming up the hill, dragging the very cold Jingle right behind him.

The Wolves carrying Mrs. Jingle, Noel, and Joy headed toward a broken down two-story home. One of them kicked the door open and once they walked through the opening, they turned to their left and headed down the stairs into the basement.

They opened the door and turned on the lights came on showing that the basement was quite bare except for a mop, a desk, and a big something that was covered up in the corner. Mrs. Jingle was dropped on the ground and pushed back to sit against the wall and Joy and Noel were rolled next to her.

"You two don't have to do this," Mrs. Jingle said to the two Wolves as they began to head upstairs, "Do you really want to ruin everyone's Christmas dream and shatter the hearts of the hopeful? Think about what you're doing."

One of the Wolves waved a paw at her, "Yeah, well maybe if your husband would've just gave us our Christmas wish years ago, this wouldn't be happening to you right now!" He laughed and shut the door, leaving the tree in the dark.

Noel slowly sat up against the wall. His whole body was aching from the beating Razor gave him earlier. He groaned as he tried to ignore the throbbing headache within his brain and looked up to Mrs. Jingle, "What do we do now?"

Mrs. Jingle looked up toward the ceiling. She could hear the wolves singing songs on how they were going to prepare a fire and drop Jingle into it. Her eyes brimmed with tears, "We hope for a miracle…and hope it comes in a form of a girl with two pigtails."

"_Ugh…oh man…what happened?_" Laina slowly twitched her fingers as she began to come around. She leaned against the wall she was supported against and got to her feet, rubbing at the sore spot on her forehead, "_I remember climbing over the sleigh cars to get Valerie's letter._" She quickly checked her inner coat pocket and saw that the envelope was tucked deeply inside it.

"_Then I had a mallet in my hand…but what for?_" Then her eyes got as big as dinner plates, "_The Wolves!_" She leaned her head out the window and sighed in relief when she saw no sight of the Wolves. In fact, all she saw were trees passing by the train, but at a very slow speed.

Laina sighed in relief and slid against the wall until she sat on the floor. She expected to feel the warm heat from the engine's furnace warm her from the winter air, but she felt no warmth at all, then something dawned on her "…._wait a minute, last time I remember I was in the sleigh cars…how'd I get up to the train engine?...and what happened to all those Wolves?_"

She began to contemplate on what could have happened to the wolves and how she was moved up to the front of the train from the back, and then she began to wonder on everyone's condition. As she began to stand up, she felt the train slowing to a stop.

That's something else Laina began to notice, "_Okay, that's the slowest I felt the train go…and how can it be moving when the furnace is ice cold?...what's going on here?_" She thought she could hear heavy panting coming from the front of the train engine and walked up to the front window. At the front of the engine, she saw the back of a huge wolf's head and she quickly ducked down when the huge lupine turned around and showed its huge size.

"_Oh man! That guy is huge! The Wolves must have gotten Jingle and the others…but where'd they take them?_" She slowly crawled over to the left side window of the engine and saw a small, run-down town on top of a snowy hill in between the trees, "_I think that's where the Wolves came from…they must've taken everyone there…now how to get there without attracting-_" She didn't have time to finish before a loud snarl made her whirl around and stare back into the yellow eyes of the giant wolf.

Spike squeezed his muscular arms through the window and his clawed paws dove straight for Laina. The frightened girl pushed her back against the wall to keep as far away from the huge wolf as possible and moved left and right and ducked as his swiping hand came closer and closer to her. She ducked at the right moment and crawled to her right to the coal car. Spike yanked his arm out the engine window and lunged to the coal car, shaking it when he grabbed the side.

Laina lost her balance and fell on her hands and knees. She looked back, seeing Spike climb over the wall and land in the pile of coal, and she quickly scrambled up to her feet and leaped to the half-ripped roof of the train cabin. She almost lost her footing when the huge wolf also leaped up on the roof, shaking the cabin, but she was able to get back up quickly and ran up the ripped part of the roof that was standing up. Spike was having some difficulty standing up on the roof because it had wet and slippery sleet from a later snowfall and his bare feet weren't doing as well as Laina's no-slip snow boots.

She climbed up the ripped part of the roof and grabbed onto the jagged edge to pull herself up until she was staring at the opening that Spike made earlier. The huge lupine tried to grab at her feet while he struggled to stand up and avoided falling off, but he was only able to grab one of her boots as she pulled herself up and flipped inside the train cabin.

Laina looked around at the mess in the train cabin. It looked as if a hurricane had went through the cabin, "_No doubt about it…the Wolves been here._"

She was so alarmed and panicked that she forgot about Spike hovering above her. The huge wolf pounced on top of the girl, pinning her down on the ground. He slowly rose up, making sure he had her in his grip, wrapped his bulky arms around her tightly, and grabbed her in a tight bear hug, slowly squeezing the air out of her lungs and crushing her body.

Laina squirmed furiously as the pressure around her body forced her to exhale. She was able to slip down to let her feet touch the floor when Spike loosened his grip to regain more strength, but he quickly clamped down on her when he felt her sliding, pushing her down as he held her in a choking headlock. The poor girl could barely stand the weight being pressed on her and the muscular strain around her neck that was making her black out. She felt a last of her air escaping her lungs and, out of panic, she leaned her head down and bit down on Spike's arm hard.

Spike yelped loudly and immediately released her, holding his other paw over his bite mark as Laina crawled away and closed herself in the bathroom. He slowly released his hold on his arm and his eyes widened at the small bite imprint that Laina had made. Although big and scary looking as Spike was, the huge wolf had the mind and spirit of a young pup, and to a pup, getting bit by human being was like being bitten by a snake.

Laina stood against the bathroom door, spitting loose fur that had gotten in her mouth, and gasped when she felt the whole cabin shake then just stand still. She opened the door slightly and saw nothing but the demolished cabin, but she thought the wolf was hiding behind the door waiting for her to put her foot out the door. She pulled herself up on her shaking feet, panting, and looked out the small window over the sink.

There seemed to be more activity going on in the town on the hill. She saw Wolves going up and down hills carrying an armload of firewood and saw a thick, black pillar of a smoke cloud rising from the town.

She could see a bright light coming from the town and saw from the flickering shadow that the Wolves were preparing a fire—a big fire. "_And something tells me they're not gonna sit around it and make s'mores and sing campfire songs_," Laina thought to herself and snickered as she pictured that, "_I have to get to that town…but I can't do this alone or I'm sure to foul up somewhere._"

She was startled by the loud bawling that reached her ears and pushed the door all the way open. She quietly sneaked through the cabin and headed toward the crying, looking around for the huge wolf and relaxed when she saw no sign of him. The sound led her outside into the woods nearby. She didn't have to walk far to approach and huge, shadowed lump curled up under a snow-covered fir tree.

Laina slowly approached the shadowed fur so as not to startle it, "Hey, are you alright?" The fur jolted its head up, showing its sad yellow eyes.

"Ah! It's you again!" She screamed. She jumped back and fell backwards in the snow, scooting away. She kept her eyes closed tight and waited for him to snarl and pounce on her and start squeezing the life out of her again, but she felt no heavy weight on her and only heard whimpering. She opened her eyes and saw that Spike had moved to hide behind the tree, shaking so that he shook the tree and the snow from the branches came down on him.

"_He…he's scared of me?_" Laina approached him cautiously and he took steps back at the same time she moved. She kept walking up to him slowly and he kept stepping back until his back hit against an embankment. Spike stared at Laina with the saddest eyes, so sad that it would make anyone's heart melt.

Laina watched him clamp his arm around where she bit him, probably protecting himself from another one of her bite attacks. She spoke softly, "Hey…uh…sorry about earlier…can you understand me?"

Spike's ears perked up at her apology and looked at his attacker with a rather look of surprise.

"I'll take that as a yes." She noticed that he still had his hand clamped around the bite area, "Did I bite you that hard?" She came up to him to get a closer look.

Since he was trapped against the curve of dirt and didn't feel threatened by Laina, Spike let go of his arm and allowed her to inspect his wound.

She arched an eyebrow at the mark she made on his limb which looked like eight small dots to her, "You're whining over this little bite? I barely got past your skin. Well, nonetheless, you're alright, but if you want a band aid, I think there's some back on the train."

The huge wolf nodded and followed her back to the damaged train. Laina watched him closely out the corner of their eyes as they headed back, but he never made any sudden movements to attack or escape. She entered the cabin after instructing Spike to stay outside and rummaged through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She came back outside, stripping the bandage off the plastic, and placed it carefully over the 'severe wound'.

Laina threw the remains of the bandage away, "Maybe that'll teach you not to play so rough from now on." Without warning, she felt a large, wet tongue slurp against her face and the whole left side of it was dripping wet.

"Wow," Laina blinked as she wiped her cheek with her sleeve, "Nothing like that has happened since I had a dog back home. You're nothing but an overgrown puppy, aren't you?" She smiled up at Spike.

Spike nodded and smiled back, wagging his tail rapidly. Laina didn't feel so afraid anymore and began to stroke her hand against his head fur, "I feel bad for biting you now. No hard feelings now, right?" She watched nod again, then she lifted his face to look at her, "I need you to listen to me. I need you to take me up to the Wolves village. Christmas is in peril and it can't be saved alone."

The huge, young wolf looked up to the village where he knew his brother was and looked down at the snowy ground and whined. Laina lifted his head up again, "Please? I'll make you a deal. You help me save my friends and I'll see to it that…you get a Christmas gift. Anything you want." The wolf's tail began wagging fast again and he nodded in agreement.

"Thank you so much…uh….what's your name?" She watched as he wrote his name in the snow with his claw, "Spike, eh? Pleased to meet you. My name's Laina."

The abandoned village that the Forgotten Wolves inhabited was nearly nothing but tree stumps and support beams that held up buildings. The Wolves were going around finding things—anything made of wood or that was flammable to keep the huge bonfire going.

The Wolves sat around the bonfire, singing vulgar, but victorious songs about their capture of Jingle and what they were going to do to him now and afterwards. Razor sat on his 'throne' next to an untouched house and smiled as he watched his comrades' happiness and at the bright, burning fire. Jingle lied shivering, still suffering from the loss of his heart (and it being cold outside didn't help much either), and whimpered as he watched the fire. Strangely, he could feel no heat from the fire in his state.

Razor sneered and kicked Jingle in his back, "Don't worry, old man. We'll get you warmed up in a second. You'll be so hot you probably won't be able to stand it," The Wolves leader cackled, "Once we get through with you and your family, we'll take your precious Jingle Express and drive it to your home. We'll torture those helpers of yours and turn them into our maids. We'll fix up **_our_** house and **_our_** train to suit our taste and we'll travel from town to town and destroy the ones we want to make our own territory. As for that human girl…I don't really care if she's with you or not. I'm thinking about keeping her as a pet to beat around on my bad days. And when she bores me, I'll give her to my brother who'll probably use her like a rag doll."

Jingle was infuriated by Razor's taunts and tried to give up, but it felt like his joints were frozen and it felt painful as he tried to move. He fell back on the cold ground, shivering and feeling so helpless. Luckily for him, Laina and Spike were listening in as they hid behind the house.

Laina, sitting on top of Spike's shoulders, bared her teeth and clenched her fist, "That selfish beast! No offense, Spike, but he's just a no-good, self-centered, egotistical mutt. And if he's really planning to do all that, then we need to find my friends fast. Do you have any idea where they could've put them, Spike?"

The giant wolf, which was standing like a feral wolf while carrying Laina, placed his nose to the ground and sniffed along the ground as he tried to search for the scent of a female reindeer and two firefoxes. Laina crouched down against his thick fur to keep from being seen. Some of the Wolves who saw Spike in the distance thought he was just playing and shrugged as they continued singing or preparing the fire.

Spike followed the scent to a house that was downhill from where the Wolves were. The roof and most of the walls were gone from when the Wolves stripped it down trying to make firewood. Laina walked through the doorway of the demolished house and looked around, "I don't see them, Spike. Have you had your nose inspected lately?"

She turned to hear him whining and saw him batting at a door on the floor. Laina walked over and pulled the door open, revealing the stairs leading down into the basement. She turned on the lights before stepping deeper down the stairway.

The lights suddenly flickering on startled Mrs. Jingle, Joy, and Noel awake. They nervously watched the stairs as they heard footfalls coming down it. They smiled and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw someone with locks of pink hair.

"Laina! It's you! Thank the saints you're alright!" Mrs. Jingle smiled as Laina began to untie her, "How'd you get past that big wolf?"

"You mean Spike?" Laina asked, "We got into a little scuffle earlier, but then I bit him and now he seems pretty tame enough now?"

Noel blinked rapidly, "_Spike_? That-that **thing** has a name?"

"Spike's a **he**! And **he** helped me get up here to save you fuzzy butt!" Laina snapped at him, making him jump, "Besides, he's nothing but a puppy underneath all that bulk."

Mrs. Jingle untied Joy from her binds, "I don't know, Laina. He's an awfully big puppy."

Before Laina could respond, she turned her head to hear something down the stairs and Spike appeared. Joy squealed in fright and backed into a corner. Mrs. Jingle was too frightened to make any movements and Noel stood in front of her, ready to fight to the death if it he had to.

Laina walked up to him and gently patted his muzzle and Spike leaned her head into her, liking the petting. "See? Nothing but a puppy. He may be the youngest out of all the Wolves up there."

Joy got the bravery to walk up to Spike with Noel following right behind her. Spike sniffed down at the pink firefox and licked her cheek, knocking her over with his large touch and covering her in slobber. Joy laughed as she sat up, "Now that you tamed him, he does look kinda cute."

"Hmm," Mrs. Jingle observed Spike from where she stood, "I do recall Razor calling him his little brother.

"Little? This guy has to be at least 10 years older than Razor." Noel looked up at Mrs. Jingle.

"It's just because of his size, Noel. Either it's gigantism or it's something that runs in his family genes." Mrs. Jingle explained, "And he probably has _feralai_, a syndrome in which animal villagers act like their feral ancestors."

"Oh yeah…uhm…" Laina looked around nervously, "I also promised him a Christmas wish if he helped us. Is that cool?"

A look of doubt came over the female reindeer's face, "Oh dear…well, that depends…what did he wish for?"

Laina shrugged, "He didn't say. Do you know what you want, Spike?"

Spike didn't hesitate. He walked over to the corner where that was something bulky hidden under a blue tarp. He pushed the desk over with one paw and tilted the mop over, then pulled back the tarp to uncover what was hidden underneath it.

A large wooden sled was revealed to everyone in the basement. It looked old, but still in good condition. It looked like it could seat two people and reign straps were in the front designed for someone strong to pull it. Spike reached into the seat part of the sled pulling out a photo frame and carried it over to Laina.

She took it in both hands and studied the photo. Three wolves were in the picture; one female and two male, and they stood on the front porch of their Christmas decorated home. The female stood in the middle while the male wolves, both of them looking really young, stood on either side of her. She looked very happy and was dressed up for the holiday seasons, wearing a long green dress and wore a holly in her auburn hair. The young wolf on her left side looked to be about 11 or 12 years. He was dressed in casual clothing and had his arms crossed with a very sour look on his face. The wolf on the right was large, about the half the size of Spike, but his smiling face told you that he looked to be around 4 or 5 years old and he was dressed in a red sweater with Jingle's face sewn on it holding a wooden toy train engine.

"Looks like a family…your family." Laina looked up at Spike who was nodding. She watched as he took a finger and circled it around the wolf lady and then the whole house, "I think he's saying he wants to go back home with his mom."

Joy smiled, "Aww, how sweet. I guess he's not like the rest of the Wolves after all."

"Razor must have somehow persuaded him to come along with him and the Wolves," Mrs. Jingle moved to stand beside Spike, gently brushing his headfur back gently, "You really don't want to hurt anyone, do you? You were just following your big brother's orders."

"_Big _brother?!" Noel looked up at the huge wolf, still in complete shock, "This kid here practically towers over Razor."

"Razor is still his big brother to him since he's still so young and anything he say goes. I've been there so I know having a older brother commanding you around can be a major pain," Laina turned her head to look up at the ceiling to hear a loud racket going on above ground, "Crap! We're down here talking and they're gonna throw Jingle on bar-B. We gotta get going."

"You gotta plan?" Mrs. Jingle looked to Laina.

"Uh…sorta…" Laina looked around the room until she eyed the sled, "Spike, you don't mind playing horsey do you?"

Spike tilted his head slightly, looking at her with confusion.

Laina grabbed onto reigns and tugged the sled out the corner, "I need you to dash through the snow pulling this sleigh with everyone it in it and carry everyone back to the train. Noel, once you get to the train, get it warmed up because we're gonna need a quick getaway as soon as I grab Jingle."

"Are you insane?!" Noel gasped in disbelief, "Jingle isn't exactly laying there unsecured. You'll be you all alone against a whole army of Wolves, Laina."

Laina nodded surely, "I've made it this far. I'll think of something."

Without any assistance, Spike pulled the sleigh up the stairs and onto the snowy ground. He strapped himself to the front of the sleigh, wrapping the reigns around his shoulder. Joy and Noel helped Mrs. Jingle into the backseat of the sleigh.

"Are you sure you don't need help, Laina?" Mrs. Jingle worriedly asked, "Whatever your plan is, you could be in serious danger if it doesn't work."

Laina just waved her hand, smiling, "It'll work. Don't worry. Just get in the train and I'll be back with your husband before you know it."

Mrs. Jingle did feel a bit better and smiled back, "Thanks Laina. Just be careful."

"Alright…Speek, Spoke…whatever your name is," Noel shouted from the front seat, "Mush!"

Spike growled at Noel, making the green firefox scoot back to the second seat. Laina laughed and ruffled the big wolf's hair, "His name's Spike, Noel. Get it right or you'll become a firefox chew toy. Go on, Spike. Take 'em to the train."

After hearing his name being said right, Spike gave Laina a nod and began to run forward on all fours pulling the sleigh along behind him. Laina watched them until the sleigh disappeared downhill. Laina headed to the where the Wolves were while scratching her head, "_Now…just have to **think** of the plan…_"

The Wolves cheered as Razor hoisted up Jingle by his back collar and showed him off again to his comrade as some of the Wolves got the rope ready. They threw it hard into the air, throwing it over a thick branch that hung over the middle of the village. One Wolf grabbed the other end and brought it over to Razor.

The Wolf leader dropped the reindeer to the ground and tied the rope around his wrists. Wolves on the other end of the rope began pulling on it and Jingle was dragged along the ground slightly. He felt himself leaving the ground and opened his eyes to see his hooves were just a few inches above ground.

Razor approached him, took his hat off of his head, and placed it on his own head, chuckling, "Looks like there's gonna be a new Jingle in town. But instead of bringing happiness to the world, I'm gonna bring happiness…to me and my comrades."

The sickly Jingle hung his head down as Razor laughed loudly, feeling defeated and ashamed. The last Wolf helping to hoist the rope suddenly felt a hard spray of ice cold water against his back and yelped loudly, releasing the rope. The other two Wolves were startled by the last Wolf's shout and also released the rope. Jingle fell on the ground on his back.

"What the heck?!" Razor looked up when he saw the Wolves running for their lives as someone shot a jet spray of water at them from behind one of the houses, "Who's there?!"

A foot came out from the side the house, and then the water sprayer's whole body appeared in front of the Wolves: a human girl in a Jingle outfit and with two pigtails in her pink hair holding a dripping water hose.

"Hey boss, isn't that that human chick that we found on the train?" One Wolf suggested to Razor.

The Wolf leader growled, staring daggers at Laina, "Bravo, genius. I guess she was with Jingle's crew after all."

"Razor," Laina glared back at him, "Let Jingle go now and I promise you all won't turn into popsicles…_Oh man, that was horrible…_"

The Wolf leader chuckled sinisterly, "Silly little girl, do you have any idea who you're talking to? We're the Forgotten Wolves, the most violent and ruthless wolves in history. You better run back home before we pummel you to a pulp!"

Laina stood in an offensive stance, placing one foot back and held the end of the nozzle with one hand and the other hand held the rest of the hose up.

"Alright, boys," Razor announced loudly to his gang, "The first one to bring that girl to me gets the very first helping of chicken stew tonight."

All the of Wolves' mouths dropped open and slobber almost covered the ground at the mention of their favorite meal and then all eyes were on Laina. The first pack of Wolves charged for her. She quickly turned the nozzle to the left and cold water spewed out, drenching the wolves. Of course, any creature with fur can stay very warm during the winter season, but when it gets wet, they start to feel the freezing cold and it can be torture for them just like torture for someone who forgot their coat while it's snowing out.

The Wolves kept coming and Laina kept spraying water never missing a target. The Wolves that had gotten soaked ran off yelping, tying find a house they didn't destroy that had a fireplace or heater. As she sprayed the last Wolf and sent him running after the other retreating lupines, she noticed the water was coming out the hose slow and had turned from a jet spray to a sluggish drizzle, and then it just came out drip by drip.

A sharp whistle made Laina turn her head and she saw Razor behind her with five of his wet buddies who were able to withstand the cold. Razor had his paw around the faucet tap. She dropped the hose and stepped back in fear as the Wolf leader and his cronies began to walk up to her with smirks on their face. She looked out the corner of her eye and saw that she was backing toward Jingle, "_If can run fast enough, I can grab Jingle and make it to the train._"

Laina turned around to run, but Razor's pal lunged for her, pushing her to the ground. They held her up by her arms making her face their boss. Razor began to walk up to her, "I told you not to mess with us! Now I'm gonna have to hurt ya!"

She screamed loudly and kicked her legs furiously as the wolves tried to keep a hold on her, but he stopped when he heard a series of strange sounds coming from his right. He turned his head and he was blinded by a blotch of snow. He heard his partners yowling and yelping as he tried to wipe the snow off his face. When his vision was cleared, his cronies were knocked to the ground out-cold and Laina was looking around in a confused state. The next thing he remembered was seeing a huge, light gray-furred blur charging at him, head-butting into his gut, and ramming him against the side of the house.

Laina was trying to recuperate when she felt something grab her arm. She looked over and saw a green firefox smiling up at her, "Noel?"

"Laina, are you alright?" Noel stepped out the way as Laina stood up and dusted snow off her clothes. She nodded, "Yeah. That was good timing. I thought I was gonna be wolf food."

She looked over to where that light grey blur had gone to. Spike, still strapped to the sleigh, stood over his brother, panting hard. Razor had slumped to his side, probably unconscious, after being smashed into wall. Spike had pushed him so hard that there was a circular crack in the wall.

"When we got onto the train, I started heating up the engine and Spike there kept pacing back and forth," Noel explained, "He was worried about you so we came back and we brought the sleigh just in case. We came up the hill just in time to catch Razor pouncing on you."

Laina nodded, heading over to Jingle, "I see. But what was that weird noise I heard before you two saved me?"

Noel held up a small horn and smiled proudly, "We use this horn if something happens to the train whistle. It was in my way in the engine and I stuck it in my pocket and forgot about it," he chuckled, scratching behind his head, "I tried to play 'Charge' on it before Spike rushed at Razor."

"_Charge_?! It sounded more like farts from a whale!" Laina laughed. She held Jingle sit up and dusted all the snow off of him, "Are you alright, Jingle?"

The reindeer looked up with weary eyes and weakly nodded once. A grim look came on Laina's face, "It's like he's getting worse."

"That's because he's supposed to be in bed, not out here in the cold! Let's get him out of here before the Wolves come back. Spike, get over here!" Noel shouted to the huge wolf.

Spike began to turn around. He looked back once more at his unconscious big brother before walking up to Laina and Noel. The pig-tailed girl gave Spike a comforting hug around the neck and a thank you kiss on the cheek before helping Noel with Jingle.

"YOU TRAITOR!!!" A loud scream of rage filled the air. Laina and Noel jumped back with Jingle as Spike began to run around like wild bull, dragging and tossing the sleigh behind him around.

"Spike?!" Laina ran after him as continued running wildly around the barren town. He finally stopped at the top of the hill where Mrs. Jingle and Joy were watching from the train down below. Laina had finally caught up with Spike and saw the problem.

The huge wolf laid flat on the ground, gasping and coughing for air, as Razor tugged on the rope he had tied around his neck. Razor had a murderous look in his eyes as he tugged hard on the rope, crushing Spike's windpipe.

Razor's look and seeing Spike struggle made tears well up in Laina's eyes and she ran forward, "NO!" She threw herself at Razor, tackling him. The Wolf leader was concentrating more on disposing of his little brother and didn't notice Laina until she had lunged at him. Both Laina and Razor were sent rolling down the snowy hill. Mrs. Jingle and Joy could do nothing but watch.

When they stopped at the bottom of the hill, they laid just lied there, too tired and too dazed to get up immediately. Laina was the first to get up. She got up on her knees and whimpered, rubbing at the bump on her head, and the dizziness made her nauseous. She heard Joy yelling at her, but it was unclear of what she was saying while the wind was blowing. She looked at Joy, trying to hear what she was screaming about, and didn't notice the rope being held over her head…

Laina heard a loud 'thwack!' behind her and looked in time to see the wooden sleigh had smacked Razor from behind her, sending him spiraling into mid-air, then rolling on the ground and dropping the rope.

She looked up and saw Spike standing over her protectively, keeping his eyes on Razor. Jingle was draped over the back of the wolf's neck and Noel sat on his back also watching Razor. "Get Jingle onto the train," Noel said in a quiet, serious tone, "We got your back."

Mrs. Jingle grabbed her husband's shoulders while Laina grabbed his hooves and they carried him inside the train cabin and laid him on futon that she and Joy rolled in the middle of the floor.

Noel jumped from Spike's back, "Keep an eye on him, Spike. I'll blow the whistle when the train starts moving and you just jump in through the hole." Noel ran up to the train engine, shoveling more coal in it to bring it back the life.

Spike stood there ready to attack again if Razor should get up. He began to see with his own eyes now. He remembered years ago, some days before Christmas, Razor had told him a tale on how Jingle never gave presents to wolves because he just didn't like wolves. His built up anger was used to wreck towns and frighten people into thinking he was a monster. But it was all just Razor's plan to get him to join the Forgotten Wolves and continue the legacy to hunt Jingle.

His childhood memories began to come back on how his mother would wake him and his brother up on Christmas Day and he'd rush down to the tree, open his gifts, and play with the new toys Jingle gave him while his brother watched jealously from the stairs. In fact, he remembered Razor breaking his new toy train on purpose. Jingle only brought him gifts because he had a pure heart unlike his brother.

Spike walked up to Razor and began to unstrap himself from the reigns of the sleigh from his shoulders. He kicked it with his hind foot, making it fall on its side, and the photo that Spike had shown Laina earlier rolled to Razor's paw.

Noel tugged on the string and the train whistle blew loudly. Spike stared down at Razor one last time before he headed to the Jingle Express. He leaped in the opening he had made and slipped inside the train cabin.

Razor came to when the train went around the bend, disappearing in the woods. He sat up in silent disbelief of what just happened. He noticed and recognized the tipped over wooden sled and he looked down to see a cracked photo frame. He picked it up and noticed a paper clip fastened to the picture of him and his family. The rest of the Wolves, who were now all dried up, watched him from on top of the hill. Thankfully for Razor, they couldn't see his hands shaking or tears falling from his eyes while looking at the photo of a younger him and his young brother going down a bunny hill in a wooden sleigh.


	6. Chapter 4

**Animal Crossing**

_The Jingle Express_

_Chapter 4_

(_Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle and his Shadow Dogs, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, and Fandangle are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo.)_

One of Jangle's Shadow Dogs sat on top of the roof looking out at the sea of frozen fir trees. The golden collar around his neck glittered in the winter moonlight as he contemplated on his master's orders.

Jangle had been pacing up and down the icy stairway ever since he had sent his fan letter to the Forgotten Wolves. He was too afraid to look through the telescope again in fear of seeing the Wolves fail of foiling all who was aboard the Jingle Express from getting to his frozen mansion.

Seeing Jangle troubled saddened his loyal Dogs as well. That is when Chan, head leader of the pack, paced with him and gave Jangle his words of comfort and assurance. It calmed Jangle enough to ease him into sleepiness.

Chan followed him up the stairs and to his room. Just as Jangle went behind the door and was about to close it, he opened the door again and looked down at Chan.

His orders were still ringing in Chan's ear, as if he were standing next to him saying it over and over again. "_You're in charge, Chan, and I wish not to be disturbed. Keep the dogs on patrol. I'm not saying they have…but it could be **possible **that Jingle and his pests could have gotten past the Forgotten Wolves' territory. If that may be, I want you to put this place on lock-down. Put all the dogs on guard and pull up the drawbridge on the sight of that cursed train. And if they do somehow infiltrate the premises, don't be afraid to tear them limb from limb. I will see my wish of ruining my brother's career this year and forever or you'll be the one suffering the consequences._"

Chan nodded and bowed to Jangle respectively, "_As you command, Master Jangle. I promise that your sleep will not be disturbed and will be sure to take care of Jingle and his friends. They won't stand a chance._"

As soon as Jangle closed his doors, Chan marched outside to the kennels in the back and shouted out orders to the other Shadow Dogs. Four dogs quietly patrolled inside the castle, two upstairs and two downstairs, while Chan and four other dogs kept guard outside.

The other eight Shadow Dogs began to get restless after hours of sitting around and staring at the snowy and icy environment, seeing hardly any movement, and hearing nothing but the winter wind, that nipped at their noses. While the other dogs were sluggish, Chan still kept his eyes ahead, never slumping or yawning.

"I knew I'd find you up here."

Chan turned his head and saw another Shadow Dog, this one half his size, standing on the top step. He walked up to Chan, yawning loudly. "Still no sign of that train, huh?"

Chan shook his head, "Not yet, Akii, but I expect them to come out of those woods any second now."

The young Shadow Dog sat next to Chan staring between the trees across the drawbridge with him. He waited for about eight minutes and then scoffed. "Well, either they're very good at hide-and-seek or they haven't gotten here yet," he said sarcastically.

"I don't like that tone in your voice." Chan stared at Akii from the corner of his eyes. "What are you up to?"

"Aw, c'mon, Chan, you need to lighten up." Akii replied, grinning like an idiot. "We've been sitting here for hours and hours and there's still no sign of Jingle or his partners. And if they're still on their way here, they'll be too late. Midnight's only two hours away. Why don't we turn in for the night?"

Chan snorted. "And let you mess up my guard duty? You heard my orders from Jangle. He wants no foul-ups, and if that means staying up until dawn, then so be it."

Akii sighed and shook his head moving around to sit and stare at his leader in the face, "Look, Chan, you need to lighten up. You're acting like we're soldiers in war looking out for enemy jets to come swooping over us. With Jingle's heart locked in the safe, his friends don't stand a chance. We've all been sitting here in the cold and those Forgotten Wolves have probably turned all of them into kibble by now. What do you say? Let's turn in for the night. We'll wake up early before the kids and make it look like we we're up all night."

"**You **turn in for the night!" Chan snarled. He was getting tired of hearing all of Akii's complaints. "At least Jangle has someone to depend on in a situation like this! I'm not like the rest of you!"

"Aww, don't be that way, Chan," Akii said in a subdued tone, his ears drooping briefly. "What are you so worried about anyway?" he continued. "Like you told Jangle, those fools wouldn't stand a chance against us **_if_** they had gotten past the Wolves. We could use a break for once. Jangle's gonna work us so hard, we'll get arthritis next week. We'll just let the drawbridge up before we go to bed, alright?"

"Do whatever you want," Chan stared to look ahead, looking past Akii, "Like I said, I'm keeping my guard up, but if Jangle wakes up and catches all of you asleep on the job, I'm not going to get the blowtorch once he freezes you all into solid ice blocks. At least he'll see who's the most responsible in the pack."

Akii shook his head slowly with a smirk and he walked past the stubborn leader and headed down the stairs. A pack of Shadow Dogs were waiting at the bottom of the steps and stared at Akii eagerly. Chan just nodded.

They all howled and barked in excitement, running around in circles and wagging their tails before heading to the backyard to the kennel. One dog ran to the front of the building dashing past the front gate and skidding to a stop next to the drawbridge crank.

He pushed his cold nose against the green button and there was a soft groan of metal in the air. Chains connected to the drawbridge were hidden in the snow clinked and clanked as they were pulled back while the rotating cogs inside the cranks pulled them. The chains pulled the wooden drawbridge up from over the 1000-foot deep pit around the castle and made it stand up just as tall as the fortress behind it.

Being cautious, the Shadow Dog walked to the edge of the deep moat and squint his eyes to look between the trees for any movement. He began to notice something skipping behind one of the frozen trees and leaned forward, momentarily forgetting about the deep drop in front of him. The second he realized that, his eyes went wide as saucers and he scooted back quickly, kicking up snow. He looked over the edge and watched the snow fall toward the arctic waters below as he tried to regain his breath. "I've got to be more careful…" he wheezed, his heart beating a thousand times a second. The small snowballs disappeared from his sight as it neared the water and he couldn't see the ripples at all from when the snow hit the water.

The Shadow Dog looked back up when he heard rustling from the icy woods and saw a snowshoe hare hopping about in the snow, probably searching for grass to nibble on. The Shadow Dog growled in disappointment and frustration; he couldn't get the rabbit now with the drawbridge up! He barked loudly and viciously at the hare, scaring the skittish thing back into the icy trees, before turning around to walk past the gates, closing the icicle-barred doors behind him, grumbling.

While still traveling the course to Jangle's home, the Jingle Express was under construction. Noel had put the train at a reasonable speed to where it was going fast, but not fast enough to throw him off the top of the train's cabin as he fixed the ripped roof with a mallet and driller.

It was a bit more crowded inside with Spike in the group. He was able to squeeze in a corner at the end of the cabin and watched as Laina, Mrs. Jingle, and Joy hurried along with their cleaning.

"I think that's everything." Joy picked up the dustpan and dumped the mess she had swept up in the wastebasket. "I think that was the scariest part of this whole trip."

Laina sat on the stitched-up couch that she and Mrs. Jingle had sewed up earlier, her fingers and thumbs wrapped in band-aids, "You think that was scary? It's gonna get worse once we actually reach Jangle's ice castle. This was crazier than what happened two years ago."

Mrs. Jingle walked from the bedroom. She had just replaced Jingle's blankets and tucked him back in bed, "Jingle did tell me that that was a troubling experience for both of you."

"Now it's happening all over again, but this time it's a hundred times worse now." Laina had frustration in her voice and Joy and Mrs. Jingle sensed it. The pink-haired girl got up and walked to look out the back window staring at the empty sleighs again. The loud drilling Spike whimpered and leaned over to nuzzle her cheek.

Joy's ears folded down as she moved to stand next to Mrs. Jingle, whispering to her, "She's very upset."

Mrs. Jingle nodded and sighed softly, "I think she's taking this the hardest out of all of us, Joy, since she saw this happen once before. Seeing it again can be infuriating."

Laina's tension and temper was filling the air and it was making everyone feel really uncomfortable. "Laina, do try to calm down," Mrs. Jingle advised, trying to prevent her from losing her cool. "Why don't you take a rest? It'll help you relax."

"I can't rest. If I do that, I'll-HEY! What the-?!" Laina felt herself being pulled back by her shirt collar. Spike had lifted her up in the air with his teeth. "Spike!" Laina reached back, trying to wriggle herself free, "Put me down! Let me go!"

Spike ignored her whining and dropped her next to his side and curled tightly around her like a protective dog protecting his pup. Laina squirmed in the hold, her arms pinned by her sides, and yelled at Spike, but it only made Spike curl up tighter.

"Settle down, dear. You're acting as if you were getting ready for war." Mrs. Jingle watched as Laina tried to free one of her arms from the hold, "Take a nap. I'll wake you when we get near the fort. By that time, we'll have cooked up a plan to retrieve the gifts from Jangle."

Laina refused to cooperate and continued struggling until she tired herself out. Spike slowly uncurled from around her, watching for any sudden movements, then relaxed when she just curled against his side.

The train began to pick up speed. Noel walked into the train cabin slipping off his winter gear and shaking the snow off. "Whoo, it's snowing up a storm out there. Spike, I fixed the roof so that you can get in and out of the train no problem. Hopefully we'll be out of it before we reach Jan-"

"Shh! Noel!" Joy waved her paw and pointed at the napping Laina. Noel blinked confusingly and shrugged, "What's wrong with the kid?"

"Tired, just tired," Mrs. Jingle sighed, sounding worn out herself, "Now, we need a plan. Where did Jingle put those blueprints?"

Joy watched Mrs. Jingle head into the bedroom while Noel went back outside to control the train's engine. She looked back to where Laina was sleeping, and then back to the bedroom where she heard Mrs. Jingle rummaging through drawers. She walked into the room and saw the female reindeer turning on the light on a nearby desk and unrolling the blueprints to Jangle's home. She walked up by her side with her curiosity and wonder piqued. "Mrs. Jingle, what'd she do?"

Mrs. Jingle was more focused on the blueprints and was startled when Joy's soft voice broke the silence. She lifted her glasses above her eyes, "What is it, dear?"

"I'm starting to have second thoughts," Joy spoke softly, "Laina's nice and all, but she's not Jingle. She doesn't know magic like he does and I'm not sure if she has the strength to go against Jangle. I think we made a big mistake bringing her along. She's only going to get hurt."

Mrs. Jingle stared at the pink firefox as she began to lower her head in doubt. She kneeled down to be eye level with Joy and placed two paws on her shoulders, "Laina may not look physically strong and she may not know any of Jingle's magic, but she has something that you don't see most humans with nowadays."

"What's that?" Joy looked up at her.

The female reindeer smiled. "A heart of gold," She sat down in front of Joy and began to explain, not knowing that the sickly Jingle was listening in, "Two years ago today, Jingle was just beginning his deliveries, visiting each town in alphabetical order, until he came upon Laina's town, Anime. He didn't know it at the time, but one of the naughty villagers lived in Anime and was preparing to do the unthinkable."

Joy listened intently, "Really? What'd he do?"

"He disguised himself and took the name Captain Coal. He caught Jingle by surprise and stole all the gifts for the villagers of Anime." Mrs. Jingle continued, "Laina happened to be walking by at the time that all happened and decided to help Jingle. As grumpy and distraught as he was, Laina stood with him the whole time as they inspected the entire town."

"Wow, he stuck with him while he was upset?" Joy's mouth hung open, "Either she was really brave or had thick earmuffs on because we all know how Jingle is when he's mad. He doesn't want **_anyone_** near him."

The reindeer nodded, "They came to Captain Coal's house in time and they had some complications getting the presents and themselves up the chimney without waking him up, but they managed to get all the presents back and deliver them to their rightful owners."

Joy knew the story couldn't be over yet, "What about Captain Coal?" she asked.

"Well, after delivering the last gift, Captain Coal appeared and he was _really_ angry." Mrs. Jingle waved her paws around to give the story more oomph as she told the tale, "He blew soot clouds and chucks of hot coal at Jingle and Laina as he hopped after him. Laina's shirt had got caught in a low branch, but she was so panicked that she didn't notice. Jingle turned around to go help her, but when he did reach her, she had gotten herself free and the branch flung Captain Coal into a nearby pond."

"Oooh, I know he was cold when he crawled out." Joy shivered, getting more and more into the story, "Then what happened?"

"Both Jingle and Laina pulled Captain Coal out the pond and turns out the water had washed him clean. Captain Coal turned out to be a shivering and embarrassed Leopold. He had been planning his plot forever and was upset when his plan was foiled-" Mrs. Jingle didn't get enough time to finish her tale just yet.

"Leopold?...wait, Captain Coal was just an ordinary villager?" Joy blinked confusingly, "Then how'd he blow soot and coal? And you did say he 'hopped' after them."

The reindeer nodded, "That I did. You see, Leopold had covered his costume in soot from coals in his fireplace to keep him from being discovered. He filled his vacuum with the same soot and coal and had it in reverse so that it blew soot clouds out, instead of sucking them in, and the interior of the vacuum case was fire resistant so that's why the coals didn't destroy the vacuum. And he 'bounced' using spring shoes that he bought from a marketplace out of town two weeks ago."

"Wow, I have to admit, that was pretty cool, but he learned in the end that the bad guys never win." Joy shook her head, beginning to feel sorry for the antagonist of the story. "I bet Jingle gave him a HUGE lump of coal for what he did, huh?"

"Actually, no," Mrs. Jingle giggled when she watched the firefox's mouth hang open again, "Laina took up for Leopold saying how good of a citizen he has been for the past year. With that, Jingle gave him a gift. After Leopold returned home, he was really touched by Laina's courage and heart that he gave her a gift as well. They've been friends since."

Jingle lay under the warm blankets and gave a weak smile remembering that story as if it had just happened yesterday. He was wary of Laina in the beginning, but after what she had done, he could see a lot of good in her. Joy smiled and clasped her paws, "That's really cool on how they met, but I still don't see how it's gonna help us against Jangle. She helped Jingle against a common villager. This is a dark ice mage we're talking about."

"I'm sure she can help in a way. I mean, she got us this far. She led us to the Tanuki lord after that horrible avalanche. If it wasn't for Laina, we would've spent all night shoveling snow to find him. And she risked her life to save us and Spike from the Forgotten Wolves and their corrupted leader."

Mrs. Jingle leaned over to look in the train cabin. Laina still lay asleep against Spike's side and Spike had also fallen asleep, "I have faith in my husband and in Laina also. She's just like Jingle in a way; they're selfless, kind, caring, and loyal. And although she knows no magic, she still can perform miracles. They wouldn't think twice about putting themselves in danger to save the ones they love. If he believes that she can help us, then I have faith in his decision." She returned to her desk and looked over the blueprints.

"Need any help?" Joy climbed up to the side of the desk with a pencil.

As they whispered ideas to each other and circled one the blueprint, Laina felt butterflies in her stomach from all that she had heard. Shivers went through out her body remembering back to that day when she ran from the disguised Leopold and almost got singed by the hot coals he threw at her and Jingle. Although she took up for him and promised to never reveal what happened that day, she never looked at supposedly mild-mannered, bookworm-ish Leopold the same way again. He had moved away the day after New Year's Day but not before sending Laina a thank you and farewell letter.

"Courage and heart?" Laina slowly shook her head, "All that happened two years ago was nothing but flukes and my ditziness. I heavily doubt I can do that all over again." She was thinking of getting up to correct Mrs. Jingle, but she felt Spike tense up every time she moved. She sighed and decided to just relax and take a small catnap, but her nap turned into a deep sleep and she started to dream.

"_And that's the last of it," Jingle placed the last gift in one of the many the glittery bags that were set behind Laina's house,, "I thank you again, Laina, for helping me. I wish I knew how to show you that I appreciate your kindness."_

_Laina shook her head and hands smiling, "There's no need, Mr. Jingle. After going through all that, I really don't want anything. The best thing now is that you're safe and the presents haven't been burned and you can continue deliver your presents and good cheer to the good boys and girls. I'll let you be on your way now. I know what a busy reindeer you are. Good night and Merry Christmas."_

_She buried her nose in her raggedy Anju's shirt when a cool wind started to blow as she headed to the front of her house. She felt a tap on her shoulder that made her turn around to face a nicely wrapped gift and a smiling Jingle, "Merry Christmas, Laina."_

_Laina stared at Jingle, then at the gift, and then back at Jingle again, "For me? Really?" She held her hands out and Jingle placed the gift in her grasps._

"_Go ahead and open it." Jingle smiled, "I'm sure that gift will be more useful than that tattered shirt you're wearing."_

_Just like a child on Christmas morning, Laina hastily ripped open the gift and gasped as she pulled out a Jingle shirt, velvety-red on the outside and wool cotton on the inside, with white mittens hanging out the right pocket._

_Jingle felt his happiness soar into the sky seeing Laina's eyes light up. "Try it on. It'll warm you up."_

"_Thank you, Jingle. How'd you know I wanted new clothes?" She slipped the Jingle shirt over her old one and slipped the mittens on her numb hands. If she were a cat, she'd be purring from the warmth from the shirt, "It feels nice and warm. I hardly feel the wind blowing. I really needed this."_

_The clock above the train station rang echoing Anime's theme song in the air as it struck 10, "Looks like better be on my way. I still have these gifts to deliver and I'm still stuck in town's beginning with A." Jingle turned to the bags and slowly raised his arms up._

_Laina watched in awe as the giant silver bags began to float a few feet in the air and hovered in mid-air._

"_I must be going now, Laina. Thank you again for your help. I will never forget you, little one." He smiled, his starry eyes glittering as he bowed, "Buh-bye."_

_Jingle headed toward the train station with the floating bags following behind him in a straight line. Laina watched him walk off awhile, then ran after him until she stood in front of him again, "Will I ever see you again, O Saint Jingle?"_

_The reindeer smiled and let out his signature, jolly laughter, "I will return like I do every Christmas night and with more gifts for good boys and girls."_

"_You're really something, Jingle." Laina smiled back, "I wish I could tell how everyone how great and caring you are, but…I know if I told me friends, they'd just laugh and tell me how silly I am…just like how I was laughed at in first grade for believing in Santa Claus."_

"_They laugh and tease because you believe in something that they've never seen. They have to see me to believe your words, but you know I'm not allowed to show myself to animals. The rules never said anything about showing myself to a human though and plus you've been a big help, so I won't erase your memory like I did with Leopold's. But besides all that, even if they don't believe you, tell them that Jingle still exists within you."_

"_Really?" Laina looked at him puzzled, "Where's that? You mean like a gut feeling?"_

_Jingle chuckled, "No, right here." He tapped at the spot where her heart was beating and she thought she felt a soft, comforting tingle surge through her body for a second after he took his paw away and it made her giggle. _

_After another good-bye, Laina began to walk into the house. She stopped at her front door, her Gyroid greeting her by wiggling around wilding, and looked over her shoulder to watch Jingle walk up to the empty train station, but he had disappeared along with the bags._

_Warm air from the radiator greeted her and her big festive tree trimmed with ornaments and blinking lights made her smile. And before she entered her home, she thought she heard Jingle's "Ho ho ho!" echoing from the train tunnel._

Laina woke up with a smile on her face and sat up feeling a whole lot better. Spike was still curled up around her with his head laying comfortably in his arms and snoring softly. She smiled, gently patted his head, and got up to stretch her limbs.

She sat on the couch and looked out the window at the snowy fir trees all crowded together left green and white blurs as they passed by them. She looked toward the bedroom and saw Mrs. Jingle still sitting at the desk with Joy and Noel by her side still planning on how to get in and out of Jangle's ice fort safely.

Noel circled around the blueprint with a pencil, "Maybe if we sneaked around the backdoor, we'd be right in the living room, right?"

"You would, but Jangle has his Shadow Dogs kennel in the backyard." Mrs. Jingle reminded him, "And I don't think they would greet you with friendly tail wags and tongue slurps."

"Shouldn't this plan have a name?" Joy said as she stared at the map quizzically, "Like Operation: Revenge on the Scrooge?"

"This is a rescue mission, Joy," Noel glared at his sister, "Not a puppy."

Joy blinked twice and stared at Noel, "Operation: Revenge on the Scrooge would be an awfully long puppy name."

Mrs. Jingle lifted her head to peer out the window and saw the roof of a white fort in the distance, "Noel, we're nearing our destination. We're gonna come to a bend in the track and it'll take us into the valley of the Frost Canyon. We'll park there so we can't be detected."

Noel looked out the same window and saw the fort getting closer and closer. A cold chill went down his spine and he quickly leaped off the desk, tripping over a bag, and skittered through the door not noticing Laina.

But she noticed the tipped over bag and saw some colorful, but strange-looking objects that had spilled out the bags. They looked like miniature toys to stuff in stockings, but they looked important. Laina walked with soft steps over to it, peering inside at the gadgets and objects inside.

Mrs. Jingle heard something clinking behind her and quickly got up. "Be careful, hon.," The lady reindeer walked over picking up the bag, "That's Jingle's Bag O' Magic. He has all kinds of things in here from sleeping sand to his winter cloak."

"Jingle told me about most of his magic that he uses on his trips," Laina replied, "And I saw things in there that might be useful to getting in and out of Jangle's fort. Mind if I look at the blueprints?"

Joy handed Laina the blueprints, "You've gotta plan?"

Laina looked over the blueprints, studying each area carefully, "Is there any other traps other than the Shadow Dog kennels in the backyard?"

"The whole ice fort itself is a trap," Mrs. Jingle began to explain, "Unless you've learned magic or wearing no-skid snow boots, you'll have a hard time keeping a steady foot inside the place. His castle is made purely from ice and snow from the inside out. Any thief that dared to sneak in can set off the alarm just by slipping and falling on the floors."

Laina listened to Mrs. Jingle and her eyes continued scanning across the blueprint. Joy looked closer and saw a gleam in Laina's eyes and a confident smile on her face as she asked Mrs. Jingle for a pencil. Joy shouted excitedly as she ran up to the train engine, "Laina's gotta plan, Noel!"

Chan was using all his willpower to hold his head up from weariness as he trudged down the hallway on the ice floor. Sleepiness was getting to him and settling down for that long winter's nap was sounding like a good idea.

He came to the back door and poked his head through the doggy door. All the Shadow Dogs were curled up in their assigned kennels and snoring loudly. Since they were born magically of cool shades of anything that casts shadows, the winter weather didn't bother them at all.

He began to step all the way through the door and make his way to his kennel until Jangle's voice echoed in his ears, "_I will see my wish of ruining my brother's career this year and forever or you'll be the one suffering the consequences_."

He shook his head to get rid of the drowsiness and backed away, pulling out the doggie door. "That stupid Akii…he's trying to get me demoted or worse." He growled as he made his way upstairs and into the family room where the gifts were stacked in piles underneath and round a Christmas tree, made of ice and snow, which was so tall that the tip top of the star reached the ceiling.

Chan squirmed and squeezed his way through the cluttered room and snorted as he curled up under the open window and stared up at the tree and presents. "If Jingle's meddling friends do manage to make it here, they'll come up here looking for the presents. And when they do," he smirked evilly, "I'll be ready for them."

Minutes felt like hours as nothing but silence moved through the house and before he knew it, Chan had nodded off to sleep.

Upstairs in the master's bedroom, Jangle and Karangle were in a deep sleep. They were unable to hear Jingle's warm heart that Jangle had locked in his safe. It was beginning to glow brightly and beat faster feeling that its owner was somewhere close.

Hidden behind the tall icy walls of Frost Canyon and hidden from the fort's view, the Jingle Express sat silently on the tracks while inside, Laina went over the plan one last time with everyone.

Noel peered through the telescope studying the castle in the distance, "Hmm…seems like everyone's asleep, even the Shadow Dogs. There's some asleep in front of front gates and doors and I bet there's a few roaming around inside."

Laina nodded, "Alright, if we are quick and quiet, we can get the gifts and Jingle's heart and Christmas will be just about saved."

Mrs. Jingle handed Noel and Laina rucksacks with Jingle's magical tools inside of them, "Please do be careful. I wouldn't want to picture what'll happen to you if Jangle or anyone else inside found you roaming around."

"We'll be careful, Mrs. Jingle," Laina slipped on a pair of ice boots after slipping on her rucksack, "Tell Jingle we'll have the gifts and his heart back in no time. Anything else we should know before we get going?"

The missus reindeer nodded, "There is one more thing. All the ice and snow inside of Jangle's home can be melted, but it will take quite. I know wherever Jangle has Jingle's heart locked up has to be made of ice. Use that Ice Cutter in your bag with caution and patience, Laina."

Spike came beside her and rubbed his large muzzle against her cheek, beginning to whimper worriedly.

Laina rubbed his muzzle and shook her head gently, "No Spike, you can't come with us. You're too big to fit through the windows. You'll be our back-up. When things get too rough, that's when you come running in, okay?"

Spike lowered his head and nodded sadly. Laina kissed his nose and ruffled his head fur, "We'll be okay."

Noel rolled his eyes, "If you're done exchanging long good-byes, we have to get going." The green firefox opened the door and jumped to the snowy ground.

Spike whined as he watched Laina follow after him and curled up back at the end of the train.

Mrs. Jingle stood in the door and waved to them, "You two be careful now."

"And hurry back!" Joy stuck her head out the window shouting, "Christmas is only a few hours away now!"

After walking through the wintry forest, Laina and Noel made it to the deep drop that separated them from Jangle's property. Laina lied down to look over the edge of the cliff and felt faint of seeing how far a fall it was to the icy ocean waters below.

"Can't go around and **_definitely_** can't jump over it. We're gonna have to go over it." Noel climbed up the tree near to him.

Laina watched the green firefox climb to the top of the tall fir tree taking a large, pearl-like marble in his paws, "Over it??? How?"

Noel balanced himself at the treetop and held the pearl over his head trying to aligning it with the full moon's beams. The pearl gave of a luminous glint when the rays shined on and reflected a bright beam of light that traced across the night sky above the deep moat. As the flat beam headed toward the castle, a long curtain of shimmering light came down from another it glowing shades of light green, blue, and violet.

The green firefox smiled down at Laina whose mouth had dropped in awe, "This pearl shining in sun or moon light makes the Aurora Bridge. It can be used a tool for work or for show. The beam serves as a curvy bridge and the Aurora lights is a distraction to keep us from being seen," he watched as the beam stopped at the Jangle's room window, "Come on. No time to waste."

Laina grabbed around the icy tree trunk and tried to climb up but it was very difficult to grab onto it. Thinking of a quick idea, she took the scarf from around her neck, wrapped it once around the trunk, and used it to pull herself up to the top. Noel was already standing on the beam when she reached the top.

He reached down and grabbed her hand helping her up on the bridge of light. Laina looked down and saw how high up she was, "Eep!" She quickly dropped down, hugging close to the bridge.

Noel shook his head and walked along the path while Laina crawled close behind, keeping her eyes closed and trying to keep her mind off what could happen if she fell off the high bridge, "Are we close to the castle?"

"We're just about over the moat. Just keep walk-err…I mean crawling." Noel looked back at her and shook her head, "If you just don't look down, you can walk instead of crawling across the bridge."

"Then that's when reverse psychology to come in," Laina explained, "If you tell someone not to do it, they'll do it anyway so if you told me to look down, I'd look down anyway."

"So should I have told you to look down?" Noel asked.

She shook her head wildly, "No! Then that would've made everything worse!"

Noel sighed and saw that they were only a few feet from the window and he could see the side of the safe, "I hope you'll feel much braver once we get inside because dealing with Jangle is no laughing mat-." He didn't have time to finish when his footing slipped and he went tumbling to the ground below.

Laina put a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming and watched in horror as Noel spiraled toward the snowy ground below. Noel looked down and saw a sleeping Shadow Dog curled up under a window on his landing spot. He flapped his arm in panic as if he were trying to gain altitude.

Laina closed her eyes when Noel got near to landing and cringed waiting to hear a loud commotion of screaming and barking and growling from down below, "_Oh man…this is it…and we came so far…_"

But then she noticed something after awhile: there was no noise. None of Noel's hollers or Shadow Dogs barking filled the air. She looked down and saw the green firefox had grabbed the ledge of the window and was hanging above the undisturbed Shadow Dog.

He was struggling to get into the window without kicking ice from the wall or waving his tail on the mongrel below. He was able to get up on the windowsill and quickly looked around to see if any other Jangle's security dogs had spotted him. Seeing the coast was clear, Noel sighed in relief and gave a thumbs-up to Laina.

Laina sighed to and smiled. She heard Noel's voice in the earpiece in her right ear, "That was a close call. Looks like it's up to you to get Jingle's heart. Be careful when you get it out of the safe. It's very fragile and must be treated with care until we get it back to him. I'll go after the presents."

She gave him a nod and watched him disappear from the window. She crawled the last few inches to the window and grabbed the windowsill. She cautiously leaned her head in the room and looked around. A loud snore made her heart leap into her throat and she looked to the right. She saw Jangle and Karangle in a deep sleep in their bed and she saw what Noel and Joy meant. Although the wicked reindeer was fast asleep, Laina sensed great evil and wickedness in him and it made her shiver in her warm Jingle clothing.

She began to have second thoughts and wanted to crawl back to the other end of the bridge, but then a glow caught her attention from the left. She looked and there was Jangle's safe against the wall. It looked like a large, clear cube of ice that was masterfully sculpted to look like a tightly secured safe. There was a red glow that illuminated the inside of it and Laina could hear a soft, audible beating sound from inside it.

"_That's Jingle's heart in there alright. I just hope Jangle doesn't wake up before I get to it_." Laina slipped through the window feet first, grateful that the soles of her snow boots were slip-resistant, and tiptoed to the safe, keeping her eyes on the snoring Jangle.

She slowly kneeled down to the frosty floor and reached back in her rucksack pulling out a red and white stick (that was about the size of a PEZ candy dispenser). She snapped it a couple of times between her thumb and finger like if she were trying to get a failing writing pen to work. A small flame began to flicker on the tipped end of the stick and Laina kept waving the stick until a circular flame formed at the tip. She gently neared the small flame to the face of the ice safe and slowly began tracing on it to melt a hole in it.

Inside, Noel was still in search for the presents Jangle had stolen. He was walking down the corridor and looked around at the interior designs that were beginning to dull him: the walls, the floor, furniture, chandeliers, even paintings and potted plants inside the fort were made of ice and snow.

"Now I'm not interior decorator or anything," Noel said to himself, "But he could at least add some red or yellow or something. I'd be going insane waking up everyday to see everything white."

He made his way up some stairs and noticed a huge doorway in front of him. He walked up to the opening and he looked in. He smiled gleefully when he saw that he had found the room that had the huge ice Christmas tree and mountains of presents all around it.

"Jackpot!" Noel pumped his fist in the air in a small victory dance and walked into the room, looking around at all the gifts, "Looks like they are all here and all of them still in tact. Phew…" He reached into his rucksack and pulled out what looked like a music conductor's cane painted to look like a candy cane stick and holly leaves and berries wrapped at one end.

He held the end with the holly plant away from him, "I just hope this works. How did Mrs. Jingle say to work this again? I just think of a tune, concentrate on it, and wave this stick around as if I'm conducting a music orchestra…sounds kinda odd but if it worked for Jingle all these years, it should work for me too."

Noel held the stick up as if he were a conductor quieting down the musicians on stage. His favorite Christmas melody, Bells of the Opera, began to play in his head and he began waving the conductor's stick to the tempo of it. Out of his view, one of the wrapped gifts began to shake slightly as if it were coming to life, then it began to float in the air bouncing to the same rhythm that Noel waved the stick.

Noel's imagination was getting the best of him. He was so into the music in his mind that he felt like he was actually controlling an orchestra. He didn't notice the floating gift until it began to circle around him twirling in circles. His eyes flew open when he saw the 'possessed present' and froze. Unfortunately, when he stopped waving the conductor cane, the present began to fall. Noel dived and caught the gift before it fell to the floor.

"Oh, I see now." Noel smiled and placed the gift on the floor. He began to wave the conductor cane again this time over the gift and watched with a smile as the gift began to 'dance' again to the same tempo.

Before he knew it, other gifts were lifting one by one from their piles and began twirling and bouncing in the air, Noel carefully aimed the conductor's rod at the high window and the dancing packages bopped to and fro as they flew up and out the window in an evenly separated trail.

They continued 'dancing' even as they were out in the winter air hovering over the castle's icy fence, over the deep moat, and over the forest of fir trees heading toward Frost Canyon.

Noel had to bounce around himself going from stack to stack to make sure each gift had got on to his tempo from the conductor stick and was heading out the window, but he didn't notice Chan fast asleep near the fireplace…

Joy was sitting on top of the train cabin looking up at the sky. Snow began to fall from the cloudy sky above but the bright full moon continued shining through a hole in the clouds.

"Joy," Mrs. Jingle opened the window and looked up toward where Joy was sitting, "Come on in, dear. You'll catch cold sitting out here."

The pink firefox nodded and climbed down from the roof and slid in through the window. She looked up at Mrs. Jingle solemnly, "I'm worried."

"I know, dear. Me too." Mrs. Jingle closed the window and returned to her husband's bedside, "Jingle's beginning to show some color. I guess since we're a few yards from his heart."

Joy stood up on the chair and looked out the window at the falling snow, "I should've gone with them. I bet with three of us, this would've been over a whole lot faster."

Mrs. Jingle shook her head slowly, "You heard your brother and no means no. It's too dangerous. Noel would have a heart attack if something awful were to happen to him."

"Well how do you think I feel about him?" Joy flailed her arms in frustration, "I'm his twin sister after all. If anything happens to him, I'll-" She suddenly got quiet, her eyes gazing on what she saw out the window.

"Joy?" Mrs. Jingle turned her attention to the firefox staring out the window, "Are you alright?"

Joy whispered something that the missus reindeer couldn't quite make out and she jumped from her chair and out into the train cabin. "Joy!" Mrs. Jingle got to her feet and followed Joy.

Spike lifted his head Joy and Mrs. Jingle rushed outside. He poked his head through the 'doggy door' in the ceiling and he looked in confusion at what looked like twirling gift boxes dancing in a line and heading toward the back of the train.

"The presents!" Joy laughed, "They got to the presents! Way to go, Noel!" She and Mrs. Jingle watched as the gifts slowly descended from the sky and began to drop one by one in the glittery silver bags in the sleigh cars behind the train. Joy climbed from each car to make sure that they bags were wide open and that the children's Christmas gift fell inside them.

Mrs. Jingle clapped her hooves, "Well done! That makes part one of this mission complete. If Laina can get to Jingle's heart and brings it back safely, then the mission will be accomplished."

As Joy continued her job collecting and counting gifts, Mrs. Jingle hurried back in the train cabin and dug through her husband's magic bag. Spike pulled his head back in and watch the lady reindeer walk up to him carrying a paint can labeled 'Shadow Paint'.

"Spike, they might need your help with this part." Mrs. Jingle pried the can open and the glowing colors of simmering black made Spike back away gently, "Don't worry, dear. It's just like body paint but it will give you a helping hand when you go help Laina."

The paint in the can looked odd and frightful to Spike, but he did want to help Laina since she helped him. He sat up straight and nodded to Mrs. Jingle, wagging his tail.

Mrs. Jingle smiled as she reached for the paint brush and dunked it in the strange, black paint.

"_Just about got it…I wish this thing could melt the ice faster…_" Laina was getting frustrated and felt like time was running out. The Ice Cutter was slowly melting inches of ice away and Laina was close to reaching inside to Jingle's heart.

She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure that Jangle was still asleep and she could hear her own heart beating at a quick pace. Finally she felt the fiery tip of the Ice Cutter burn to the other side of the safe and began to cut a circle with the small fire wheel. She carefully pulled out the carved ice and reached into the safe.

Jingle's heart felt warm in her hold and it made her feel calm in the tense situation. She pulled it out of its prison and held it close in both hands, feeling it beat in her hold. Laina stood up with a confident smile, "Well, that was more easier than I-"

Then a panicked child's voice filled the air, "Daddy! Mommy! There's a human in the house!"

Laina whirled around in sheer fear and saw Jangle's three boys, Bangle, Fandangle, and Durangle, glaring at her. Narangle was bouncing on the bed trying to wake her parents up.

Jangle was half asleep during his daughter's entire screaming, but when she said her last sentence he jolted up in bed, "WHAT??? A human???" His dark eyes went to the safe and he saw Laina, literally shaking in her boots, holding his brother's heart in her hands. Karangle tried to comfort her panicked child and gave Laina a look that could kill.

"Well, well, if it isn't Jingle's little human helper. We finally meet." Jangle leaped out of bed. An icy wind enveloped around him and he was dressed in his gloomy black suit.

Narangle growled, "What is an ugly human doing in our house, daddy?"

"I bet you she was trying to steal our presents back." Bangle said.

Then Fandangle chimed in, "Presents?! Do you think she-."

Without giving it a second thought, the children ran out the room and headed down the stairs.

Jangle chuckled, "Excellent. With my children ready to rip open the gifts, all the toys will soon be destroyed. There will be no Christmas this year or ever."

"That's what you think!" Laina summoned up the bravery to speak up, "I'm not alone, Jangle, and by this time he's probably got all the presents to the train"

The ice reindeer growled, but he quickly calmed himself and his evil smirk appeared on his face again, "So you have the presents? But you still have Jingle's heart. How are those presents going to be delivered in only 5 hours without the help of Jingle's magic, hmm?"

"We-we'll think of something," Laina stuttered, "We made it this far."

"Don't be foolish now, little girl," Jangle reached out to her, "Give me the heart and I promise not to turn you into the center ice piece in the middle of my music room."

Laina backed away into a corner shaking her head, "No way."

Karangle snarled and summoned her ice staff in her hands, aiming it at Laina, "You want me to freeze her, dear? Just say the word and I'll do it."

Jangle eyed his wife out the corner of his eyes and smiled as he stepped to the side, giving Karangle a clear view of her target, "Be my guest, love."

Without hesitation, Karangle fired pointy ice shards from her staff and they flew at Laina at a great speed. Laina ducked out of the way in time, but one sharp shard skinned her on the shoulder making her shout loudly.

Her scream echoed throughout the castle, waking up the Shadow Dogs and making Noel jumped to his tiptoes. He had just sent the last set of gifts flying out the window and they continued dancing to the train even after he dropped the conductor's cane, "Laina!?"

"Intruder!!!" Noel jumped at another loud voice that came from his right and saw Chan on his feet with his back fur ruffled and his teeth in a snarl.

Noel slowly backed away as Chan began to advance toward him, "Nice doggy…good doggy…wanna play a game of fetch?" He laughed nervously waving the conductor's cane at Chan, but almost jumped out of his fur when he barked at him, "Okay…maybe not."

Bangle, Durangle, Fandangle, and Narangle ran into the family room to see no Christmas present in sight. "No!" Durangle cried in disbelief, "They got ALL of them?! But only Uncle Jingle could do that!"

"Look!" Bangle pointed and everyone stared at the last present left that was nestled underneath the icy tree. He ran toward it with his siblings stampeding after him, "I call first dibs!"

Noel saw Jangle's kids running toward the gift and made a mad dash for it with Chan on his tail. It was like a suspenseful horse derby race with Jangle's children running ahead of each other and Noel both running to the gift and running from the Shadow Dog. Just when it looked like the kids would reach for the gift first, Noel dived and slid across the icy floor and slid by them grabbing the gift

"You stupid dog!" Narangle screamed at Chan, "Don't just stand there! Get him!"

Chan galloped toward the green firefox barking viciously. Noel slid toward the wall and bounced from it, did a quick leap from Chan's noggin, and grabbed onto the end of the icy Christmas tree. He wrapped one arm around the gift and used his free paw to climb up to the top using the jagged edges of the tree like a ladder.

"No! Get back down here!" All three brothers gathered at the trunk and began pushing against it. The trunk began to snap from the pushing and began to lean over. The tree slowly began to topple over when Noel reached the top. He tried to leap to the high window, but he lost his balance as the tree began to fall over. The tree fell over like it had been chopped down with an axe. Noel waited until the tree was close enough to the ground and he leaped from it and in front of the doorway of the room.

The tree crashed to the ground and it shattered into chunks of ice that scattered everywhere. Seeing the beautiful tree destroyed made Narangle burst into tears, but the boys were more focused on catching on the thieving firefox that stole the present that they stole from Jingle.

Noel ran down the stairs and halfway down the corridor until he saw his way out was blocked by more snarling Shadow Dogs. He dashed down another hallway with screaming children and barking dogs on his tail.

Laina was in some of her own trouble. Running around the room dodging Karangle's ice darts, she was able to get to the window where the Aurora Bridge was waiting for her, but Jangle zapped an ice bolt at the top of the window, making her jump back, and a sheet of ice blocked her way out.

"You can't leave now." Jangle chuckled darkly, "Why not just stay with us awhile and, how do you youngsters say it now…chill?"

Karangle cackled as she shot more darts at her with her ice staff at the defenseless girl. Laina ducked and rolled to the door. She ran out the room and down the hall holding the beating heart in her hands close to her chest with Karangle wildly pursuing her now shooting ice 'lasers' at her heels. Jangle followed close behind his wife, pleased to see she was having fun.

She reached the spiral stairways that lead down to the foyer. She quickly climbed up on the banister and slid on the slippery ice railing to the bottom, giving her more chance to run safely without having to worry about Karangle freezing her feet to the floor.

When she reached the bottom, Noel crashed into her and both of them was sent skidding into a corner. They quickly picked up their recovered items and got to their feet, but the pack of Shadow Dogs had already stood around them so they couldn't get out of the corner.

Jangle came to the bottom steps standing behind his security dogs. His children gathered around their mother excitedly exclaiming on what 'Noel did to their tree'.

"I'm so sorry I have to cut your visit so short," Jangle said as he pulled out what looked like a dog whistle, "But I can't have you breaking into my abode, destroying our Christmas tree, or ruining **my** Christmas."

He didn't notice but Laina and Noel had one arm behind their as if they were holding something. Noel and Laina exchanged looks and they nodded in unison to each other. Jangle raised the whistle to his lips to signal the attack when suddenly there was a loud explosion and there was a blinding light that made him drop his whistle and shield his eyes.

The very bright light seemed to glow for a long time until it finally decided to fade. Jangle shielded his eyes, letting them get adjusted to the normal lighting, and he gasped when he saw his whole pack of Shadow Dogs had disappeared before his eyes. He noticed something on the ground and saw two black canisters, then he glared up at Laina and Noel.

Noel smirked at him, "Flash grenades: the best weapon against a Shadow Dog attack."

"Against my Shadow Dogs, yes, but it won't help you against my ice magic!" Filled with rage, icy winds flew around Jangle, making him hover slightly from the ground, and his eyes glowed white. Laina kneeled down and hugged Noel as saw ice forming in his hooves. Karangle just smiled watching the power her husband was building up and their children were singing teasingly at Laina and Noel.

"First I'll freeze the both of you in cubes of ice, and then I'll push you over the edge and into the sea below." Jangle chuckled loudly with no heart at all, "Got anything to save you against that?!"

There was another sound that filled the air. It sounded faint, but Laina smiled when she heard loud thudding sounds heading toward the castle wall next to them getting louder and louder, "Spike!"

There was a loud crash and large pieces of frost ice that made up the wall were destroyed. A Shadow Dog, this one larger than all the Shadow Dogs Jangle had made, leaped through the hole in the wall standing protectively in front of Laina and Noel.

Jangle was confused but stepped away as the huge Shadow Dog growled at him, "_It can't be…is this one of my creations?_"

Laina ran up to the huge Shadow Dog and hugged him around the neck, looking over him, "Spike? How-how'd you-"

"Escape now and questions later, Laina." Noel leaped up onto Spike's back still having ahold on the last present and Laina climbed up after him still having Jingle's heart in her grasp.

"Why you—you won't escape me!" Jangle began to summon his cloud as Spike ran off with Laina and Spike holding onto his fur.

"Nice entrance, Spike." Noel petted the large wolf's head, "And nice makeover too. Haha! Did you see the look on Jangle's face?!"

Laina began to think as Spike ran through the hole in the fence he had made, "Something's bugging me though. Spike…how'd you get over the moat?"

Noel gasped as he looked ahead seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the cliff, "Looks like we're about to find out!"

"Ahh! Spike, slow down!" Laina screamed, "There's no way you can jump that!"

Spike smiled as he just continued to gain speed. He was getting closer and closer to the cliff. Noel and Laina clung onto Spike's fur tightly and waited to feel their stomachs to sink from the drop. But they didn't feel themselves dropping at all. It felt like Spike was still running on solid ground.

Laina slowly lifted her head up, "Huh…seems like that moat is much farther away than I-WHOA!!!" She kept her fingers tightly clung into Spike's fur as she saw that instead of falling into the Arctic oceans, they were flying high above the forest. Spike's legs rotated in the air as he continued running forward. It was like the snowy wind had made a special path in the air just for him.

"Wow," Noel blinked in amazement, "I thought that paint was only used as a disguise. I didn't think it'd make you just like a Shadow Dog." He sat up straight on the wolf's back and slipped off his rucksack, then slid the present he had into his rucksack for safe keeping.

Laina decided to do the same with Jingle's heart. She began to take off her rucksack until a blue flash zipped beside her face, scaring her and making her drop the rucksack.

"Careful!" Noel helped Laina regain her grasps on Jingle's heart and then looked back to see where that flash came from.

Right behind them, Jangle and Karangle sat on the front of their black cloud with their children whooping and hollering behind them. Jangle smiled evilly down at them, "You two don't hear very well do you? I told you wouldn't escape me."

Mrs. Jingle shoveled the last pile of coal in the train engine's furnace and pulled the green lever forward. The train's wheel squeaked as they moved forward on the railroad tracks and the train slowly began to pick up speed.

"Mrs. Jingle! Mrs. Jingle!" Joy ran up to the engine panting, "Laina, Noel, and Spike haven't returned yet!"

Mrs. Jingle nodded, "I know. I'm just getting the train into a head start so that we'll be on our way to delivering gifts once they get here. Spike is fast enough to catch up with us with his temporary powers. You it takes awhile for this old locomotive to get going."

Joy looked more alarmed than just the early train start, "There's another thing. I counted all the gifts probably like seven or eight times. We only have 50,789,125 gifts, but I remember us making 50,789,12**6**! We have one present missing!"

"Oh dear, that is a problem." Mrs. Jingle was wondering on how they could replace that last present until she heard someone shouting from outside.

"Jangle is coming! Get the train going now! Move! Move!" Mrs. Jingle and Joy looked out the window and saw Spike carrying Laina and Noel in the air and Jangle and his family on their large black cloud following close behind.

"Oh my word…" Mrs. Jingle grabbed the shovel and began to put more coal into the fire. Joy helped by throwing armful of coal into the furnace.

Noel ducked ice darts and lasers that Jangle fired on them. Karangle stood on the cloud and blew a sharp whistle from her lips that sounded almost like sharp whistles from a snowstorm and within seconds, Spike was blinded by in a snowstorm as he dodged the ice attacks from behind him.

"Oh no! Where's the train?!" Laina looked down trying to see through the blowing snow flurries, "Do you see it Noel?"

The green firefox shook his head, "No. Just see snow, snow, and more snow. And a very mad Jangle on our tails."

Spike panted heavily as he began to grow tired and inhaling the cold air so quickly was harsh on his lungs. Then he suddenly yelped as one of Jangle's ice attack made a direct hit on his hind leg.

"Spike's been hit! Hold on!" Noel held onto Laina's hand as they began to drop from the sky. The snowstorm was so thick with snow and fog they couldn't tell how high they were and what they were going land on or in.

Jangle could see through the snowstorm and smiled victoriously as he watched them fall. He separated the cloud in two and sat on one of the clouds by his lonesome, "Karangle, you take the kids back to the house. I can take this part by myself. I'll have the presents back before you know it."

The strong winds were too much for Laina and she couldn't hold on any longer. Noel gasped when her grip released from his paw and she tumbled off the big wolf's back, disappearing into the fog below.

She grunted when she landed and laid there motionless for awhile. Whatever she landed on was made of metal and it was very cold. She sat up when she came around, holding where her ribs were, and groaned in pain, "Oiy…that hurt." Then she gasped. She remembered holding something important but it was no longer in her hands.

"Jingle's heart! Oh no! Where'd it go?!" Laina looked around to see if she could see the red glow anywhere through the thick snowfall, but saw nothing. Tears welled up in her eyes and she fell on her side as she began to sob, "What have I done?"

She lifted her head up when she heard a dark chuckle near her and saw a pair of hooves land right in front of her. She looked up and saw Jangle standing before her.

"I'd say you helped me a whole lot, Laina," he grinned coldly, "Thanks for getting rid of my brother's heart for me."

Laina got to her knees and stared up at him, "Why?...Why are you so dark? Why are you so cold?"

"Why was Jingle so jolly and caring???" Jangle kicked Laina down to the ground, standing on her chest and putting more pressure on the pain on her ribs, "He's the bringer of good joy once a year and I'm the bringer of bad luck on everyday. All the presents on Christmas Day are from him and I bring romantic break-ups and freak accidents that happen every other week. Everyone loves him and everyone despises me and I'm sick of it! Let's just says I decided to bring Friday the 13th on Christmas Eve."

Laina squirmed and whimpered as the pain began to get intense in her chest as he put more pressure on his heavy hoof.

"I've taken out my brother once and for all, but I'm still angry," he stared down at Laina as his paws began to cover in ice again, "I know. Why don't I take my anger out on you next? I did promise to make you into an ice cube." Jangle lunged down at her starting to grab at her neck until a red beam knocked him off of her and sent her flying back.

Laina sat up wondering what had just happened and looked back to see someone walking forward out of the snowstorm. A smile curled on Laina's face when the foggy figure came closer to her view. It was a reindeer but he wore a red suit with black boots, his hooves were clean and both of his eyes had a twinkle in them although he had a furious look on his face. "Jingle," Laina whispered, "You're…alright?"

Jingle didn't stop walking until he stood next to Laina. He shouted to his brother, "Jangle! I know you can hear me! Both of us know why you have the job you hate so much. Growing up, while I was the obedient and more disciplined, you were always bullying others around and disrespecting your elders. For that, the Great Elders cursed you to bring misfortune while I was blessed merriment."

Jangle had recovered from that beam shot and quickly got to his feet, glaring and growling at his brother, hiding his hands behind his back as he began to summon another ice attack, "But I'm…older than you."

"Age didn't matter back then," Jingle reached down to help Laina up, but didn't take his eyes of Jangle, "But you personality did."

Jangle raised his hand to fire another ice attack, but Jingle held up the conductor's cane Noel had earlier and shot another red beam from it. That shot sent Jangle flying back even further.

"Come on, Laina." Jingle held her as he ran back from where he came on the cold metal path.

"But Jingle, where are we?" Still dazed and confused, she felt herself being lowered into a hole below here and fell right onto something big and furry.

Noel suddenly leaped into her face, "Laina! You're alive! Are you alright? I didn't mean to let you go. Honest!"

Laina sat up, holding her chest, and looked around to see she was back in the safety of the train cabin with her friends all around. Spike leaned over to her and began nuzzling and licking at Laina's cheek.

Mrs. Jingle looked over her, "You gave us all quiet a scare, dear. We thought we had left you behind."

"What happened?" Laina rubbed her head. Everything had happened so fast that she hardly had time to recollect it.

"Well, Spike got hit from one of Jangle's ice blast. It froze Spike's entire hind leg. Then we began to fall and I told you to hang on…" Noel rubbed the back of his head, "But you couldn't hold on. You fell over the side. Spike and I fell in the soft snow so close to the railroad tracks. The train came by and Joy yelled at us to get our attention. We were able to get inside alright."

"But I dropped Jingle's heart." Laina watched as Jingle squeezed through the fire escape in the ceiling and Mrs. Jingle ran to him hugging him tightly, "How is he up walking and about?"

Joy chimed in excitedly, "That's where we came in. I had opened the fire escape in the ceiling earlier because it had gotten hot in the cabin and when we started the train, I had forgotten to close it. Then the snowstorm hit and I was all in a panic that I didn't know I was standing under the fire escape. Next thing I know, something falls on my head and I grab it and its Jingle's heart. When I gave the heart to Mrs. Jingle, I heard a loud crash on the roof. I thought it was just a large snow clump on the roof."

"No, that was me." Laina laughed a little, wincing from the pain in her chest, and then sighed in relief as she lay back against Spike's side, "So…is that it? We're done?"

"It seems that way, dear," Mrs. Jingle smiled, "We saved Christmas…well, almost."

"…Almost?" Laina didn't like the way she said that.

Jingle nodded, "We still have to deliver the presents to all the children in the world," He walked over to the map on the wall near the bedroom door, "I think we can hurry if we take the trestle up ahead and then head west, but that means we'll have to start with towns that begin with the letter Z and finish with A-named towns."

"Eek! I just remembered!" Joy squeaked, "The 50,789,126th gift is still lost in Jangle's castle somewhere! Someone won't get their Christmas gift this year."

"50,789,126th? You mean there's…Oh!" Noel slipped off his rucksack and took out the gift, holding it over his head, "Is this what you're talking about?"

Joy grabbed her brother in a hug and twirled him around the room, "Noel, you are awesome!"

"I know." Noel snickered and everyone laughed.

Laina slowly sat up looking up at Jingle, "So are you okay now?"

"Okay?" The twinkling in Jingle's eyes sparkled, "I fell better than okay! I feel like a million Bells! Ah, it feels so good to be warm again."

She smiled, "I'm glad." She winced in slight pain when she lied back down against Spike's side.

Jingle saw Laina's face of hurt, "That was a pretty bad fall. Let's get that looked at. I don't think you would want to explain to Quetzal why you are hurting." He handed her a white band-aid strip with Christmas tree print on it.

Laina arched an eyebrow, "Uh…I think I'll need more than a band-aid strip, Jingle."

"Trust me." Jingle leaned down and placed the band-aid on her aching side.

Laina suddenly felt a comforting wave of warmth enveloping her side and her sore ribs began to heal quickly. She lied back down and felt no pain. She looked down and saw the band-aid had disappeared.

Jingle winked with one eye and smiled, "Speedy Recovery Band-aids. The best thing to have in your first-aid kit if you have bad falls."

Joy looked out the window as the snowy ground disappeared and she was staring down at the wide river below as the Jingle Express rode down the tracks on the trestle bridge. She sighed in relief, "I'm glad this whole thing is over and we don't have to worry about Jangle anymore."

"Oh no?" An infamous voice came from the window sent chills down everyone's spine. Everyone turned to the window and saw Jangle smiling menacingly at everyone as he floated right beside the train and waved at Jingle and Laina.

Jingle growled behind his teeth and Laina hid behind the snarling Spike staring in fear. Jangle cackled manically and flew past the train, flying high into the air.

"What's he doing?" Laina pressed closed to Spike and looked to the windows on the opposite side to see if Jangle was circling the train.

Jingle ran up to the window and pulled the window up. He leaned out the window watching his brother ascend higher and higher into the sky, staying ahead of the red and white locomotive, "I don't know exactly, but when he laughs like that, that usually means he's going to do something drastic."

Jangle flew higher until he was flying above the tallest tree flying a couple of miles ahead of train. He raised his arm up in the air, holding a long spear of ice shaped like a bolt of lightning, and threw it at the train track. When the ice bolt hit the middle of the trestle, it became engulfed instantly in ice. He dive-bombed towards the trestle traveling at top speed. He quickly used his frost magic to create a giant mallet and held it over his head balancing himself on his cloud. When he was close enough, he swung the mallet and the heavy head collided with the frozen part of the trestle, shattering the middle part of the bridge.

Jingle saw at what his brother had done and gasped as he saw that the train was heading right for the destroyed bridge. He hurried to the train engine while quickly telling everyone to hold on.

Noel was immediately pushed out of the way when Jingle charged in. The reindeer kneeled down and placed his paws palms down on the floor. Noel was confused on what was going on until he leaned out the window and saw that they quickly approaching the broken part of the bridge. He turned to warn Jingle about it but saw he was a deep trance and decided not to disturb him.

Jingle began sweating from his forehead and grunted as a warm, bright glow shrouded over his paws. He slowly raised his paw as if he were picking up something that weighed a ton. The glittery glow from his paw began to spread out on the engine's floor and crept on the walls, beginning to make it the engine sparkle with a comforting shine. The glow began to envelope the train cabin and the sleigh cars holding the presents behind it as well.

The warning whistle blew as the train came within inches of reaching the drop, but instead of dropping like a heavy weight to the freezing rapids below…

…The train lifted up and began to ascend high into the sky traveling on an invisible track.

With the whole train engulfed in his magic and safely flying out of harm's way, Jingle released his hold on the engine's floor and fell back, holding his chest and panting heavily. Noel came to his side, but the reindeer waved at him and weakly smiled, signaling that he was alright.

Mrs. Jingle walked from the train cabin, trying to steady herself as the train tried to straighten itself in the air, and went to help her husband to her feet. Joy and Laina looked out the window and saw that they were flying over sea of trees.

"Oh, I see now!" Joy said with a nod, "The train can move without Jingle, but it needs him to help make it _fly_."

Laina quickly staggered away to the middle of the room. She felt airsick and thought she had enough flying and dropping for one night.

Jingle walked from the engine room and comforted her with a pat on the shoulder. He smiled, "Santa needs eight tiny reindeer to pull his sleigh. What do you think of just one reindeer making a train fly?"

"I hate to say it, but you kinda put Santa to shame, Jingle," She giggled, "So is that it or do you think Jangle's gonna try again?"

"Oh he will try again," Jingle walked out the back of the train cabin with Laina behind him, "If there's one thing I know about my brother, he's not an easy quitter."

She saw he was right when she saw Jangle a distance away coming right at them with anger and madness in his eyes.

Jingle slowly shook his head and sighed heavily, "I didn't want to have to come down to this, but his stubbornness leaves me no choice." He raised his arm in the air and waved it left to right as if he were gradually waving good-bye to his mad brother. His paw glowed again and a glittery transparent curtain draped right behind the last sleigh car.

Jangle kept flying towards them until he crashed into the shimmering wall almost falling off his cloud. He hovered right in front of the magical wall and placed his paw against it. It looked like you could go straight through it, but to him, it felt solid and unbreakable. He began banging his fist against the wall wildly screaming angrily at the top of his lungs, "Curse you, Jingle! Curse you, your friends, and your blasted holiday cheer! **CURSE YOU ALL!**"

Laina watched in amazement as they flew farther and farther away from the trapped Jangle and looked up at Jingle questionably.

Jingle already knew she wanted an explanation, "Aurora Walls. I encased my brother, his family, and his home in a wall barrier that will keep him from leaving this end of the world. He's a prisoner on his own property until he becomes calm enough to reason with."

She smiled at him, "Is there anything you **can't** do?"

"Just don't ask me to cook anything," Jingle looked away from her blushing in shame, "Even without magic, I can still manage to blow up a Christmas turkey in the oven."

Laina laughed loudly, then she realized that the danger was really over and let out a loud side of relief and leaned over the railing, "This has been the weirdest and most dangerous Christmas ever, but at least we saved it."

"And we're not quite done yet," Jingle smiled and took an extra Jingle hat out of her coat, placing it on Laina's head, "Think you can be Jingle's little helper again this year."

"You bet!" Laina smiled with a nod and followed Jingle inside the warm cabin.


	7. Chapter 5

**Animal Crossing**

_The Jingle Express_

_Chapter 5_

(_Laina, Mrs. Jingle, Joy, Noel, Jangle and his Shadow Dogs, Karangle, Bangle, Durangle, Narangle, and Fandangle are © me, but Laina's player is Animal Crossing. All other characters are © Nintendo.)_

With Jingle's warm emotions returned to his heart, the presents returned, and Jangle kept from causing anymore mayhem, Jingle, along with Laina and his family, began his Christmas delivery route and with plenty of time to spare. They quietly landed next to train stations of each sleeping town they arrived in and tiptoed from house to house with sacks of gifts.

Jingle and Laina squirmed down chimneys and placed the residents' desired gifts under their Festive trees and stuffed treats in their stockings hanging over the fireplace. Joy and Noel squirmed in cracked windows to help them into waiting houses without a chimney. Mrs. Jingle stayed in the train with Spike, checking off each house and town on her husband's list, and she always made sure there were cookies and hot cocoa when they returned.

After double-checking to see if they reached each house, the magical Jingle made his train lift up into the sky to fly off to the next town and let out a loud "Ho ho ho!" echo over the town.

It seemed like it had only been an hour, but they had delivered gifts to towns from Zyumil to Anjrin. It was getting close to midnight as they neared Laina's hometown, Anime.

The Jingle Express continued chugging along the sky flying over the clouds in front of the full moon,

Noel was sitting on the couch sipping a big mug of hot cocoa and having a nice conversation with Mrs. Jingle. Joy was curled up at the other end of the couch taking a nap underneath a warm blanket. Spike had been dropped off in his hometown of Bybeach earlier. Jingle and Laina had watched from behind the house when he was happily reunited with his mother. Jingle had left gifts of new clothes for Spike's mother and a model of the Jingle Express for Spike after they had went to bed.

Laina needed fresh air and she and Jingle stood at the back of the train cabin. She watched with her head lying in her crossed arms and listened to the story that Jingle told her about him and his brother, "So these Great Elders…they're responsible for the holidays?"

"More like responsible for who represents the holidays," Jingle explained, "Like Cupid for Valentine's Day and the Easter Bunny for Easter."

"And you for Christmas. I think I see now." Laina nodded, "Why can't I tell anyone that I actually know you? Bah, who am I kidding? No one would believe me anyone."

"That's because they don't believe enough," Jingle smiled, "The Great Elders are said to be stories along with me and the other holiday symbols and just because they have never seen us means they have no reason to believe that we are real. I think it would be best if we remained as stories anyway. It can summon up horrid ideas for the selfish and heartless if they knew we existed."

"But what about Jangle? What holiday would he be representing if he weren't so mean?" Laina felt her eyelids getting heavy.

Jingle crossed his arms looking up at the full moon, "He would've been working along side with me if he would've behaved in the past. The Great Elders don't tolerate those who act irresponsible and immature. Jangle thought being chosen by Them he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it, but the Great Elders showed him he was wrong and gave him control of days that are only noticed by the believers of bad luck. He takes his anger out on others on those days, which is why you were tripping over your own feet so much after your visit with the fortune-teller Katrina."

Laina blushed, "You saw that, huh? I always wondered that when I got the bad luck card. At least now I know it's not my fault. I kinda feel sorry for Jangle. Do you think he'll put his bitterness to the side and let you talk to him? Then maybe you and the Great Elders settle something out."

"Maybe, just maybe…but it'll be some miracle if he **does **manage to do that," Jingle looked down and saw Laina slink down to her knees on the floor staying on the railing, "Hmm, maybe you should go in and lie down, Laina. I'll wake you when we get to your town."

"I just hope Quetzal isn't awake," Laina walked back into the train cabin rubbing her head and flopped on the couch being careful not to disturb Joy. "Oh and before I forget," She reached in her inner jacket and pulled out Valerie's envelope which was crumpled and wrinkled from her earlier adventure, "This is from Valerie, one of my friend's nieces in Anime. She's staying the holidays with her Uncle Wolfgang and she was so excited about Christmas she forgot to send you her wish list. I know it's almost late, but you think you could go back to your workshop after you drop me off and get her Christmas present?"

Jingle took the enveloped, opened it, and tugged out the Christmas list written inside. He took his reading spectacles out his pocket and looked over it, then he smiled, "Ah yes, Valerie. I know this child. Straight A student in school and a well-behaved child, she is. I'll see to it she gets her present."

The jolly reindeer started to stay something else as he looked down at Laina. He smiled when he saw the girl had fallen asleep in her seat.

The Jingle Express quietly landed beside Anime's train station. Jingle was the first to step off the train carrying the slumbering Laina in his arms. Joy and Noel followed after him tugging the bag of presents for Anime's residents. Mrs. Jingle stepped off the train holding her coat around her and waved to her husband smiling.

The house they arrived was at Laina's two-story home. Jingle leaped up to Laina's roof with one jump and squeezed down one of the two chimneys. His hooves reached the floor and he looked around to find himself on the second floor.

Quetzal was still asleep in Laina's bed curled up at the foot. Jingle tiptoed over to the bed and laid Laina onto it, her legs draped the gray eagle's body.

"Rest well, Laina," Jingle smiled, removing the Jingle hat on her head and placing on the bedside table, "And Merry Christmas." He sneaked downstairs to the living/dining room and opened the door for Noel and Joy.

The two firefoxes walked in with presents for Laina and Quetzal's present and placed it under her Festive tree. After the last present was set back down, Jingle and his firefox helpers left the house and on to deliver presents to the rest of the Anime residents.

As they moved onto the next house, Joy asked Jingle, "Do you think we'll see Laina again next year?"

Jingle smiled and gently ruffled her head fur, "Maybe? Who knows what next Christmas will bring."

Laina felt her body being shaken until she finally opened her eyes. "Huh? Wh-what?"

"Laina, wake up!" She stared up at her boyfriend's golden eyes, "It's Christmas! Let's go see what Jingle brought us." He said jokingly.

As Quetzal rushed downstairs, Laina swung her feet to the floor and rubbed her head. She up at the window and saw the sky was a pinkish-blue and the sun was halfway over the horizon.

She groggily rubbed her head, "Man…what happened last night?" She looked over to see the Jingle hat underneath her lap. She smiled as she picked it up, "Oh yeah, now I remember."

She stood up and stretched as she headed downstairs placing the hat on her head. She giggled when she saw Quetzal crouched by the tree, grabbing one of his presents and putting it to his ear as he shook it, "Well, are you gonna open it or are you gonna wait 'til next Christmas?"

Without hesitation, Quetzal untied the bow, ripped away the gift wrapping, and opened the box. His mouth opened in a gasped, "Laina, how were you able to get these???"

Laina was confused at first until Quetzal pulled out a pair of large, three-toed silver boots with white wing symbols printed on the side of them, "_Oh! The SilverWing Snow Boots he always wanted. Good ol' Jingle. He must've known._"

Quetzal slipped his feet into the boots and wriggled his toes in the warm interior, "But how were you able to get these? They were out of stock at Nookington's and-" He didn't noticed until now that Laina was dressed in her Jingle coat, "And I thought you wore your pajamas to bed."

She looked down at her clothes that looked tattered and worn and nearly went into a panic, "Uhm…Quetzal..heh hehe…you see-"

Quetzal smiled at her stuttering and lifted a wing, "There's no need to explain. I see exactly what's going on here."

"You do?" Laina tried to smile her best trying to hide her nervousness.

The gray eagle put his wingtips on her shoulders, "Yes. After I went to sleep, you went traveling from town to town on the train to see if you could find a nearby shop that had one pair of these boots left. And I bet you had to fight off discount hungry customers to get them. That's why your coat and clothes are so messy, am I right?"

Laina wiped her forehead and put on a trustful smile, "Wow, you found me out, Quetzal. You really are smart."

Quetzal wrapped his wings around her, "You're so sweet to go through all that and just for me, Laina. That's why I love you so much. You have such a big heart."

Laina smiled and returned the loving hug to him. Then they turned their heads to hear gleeful screams from outside. Laina opened her front door and fell back in shock as the three young boys rode by her on their brand new bikes.

"Hey you guys! Wait for me!" Valerie screamed after the boys. Laina peered around the doorway and saw Valerie riding up on a pink mountain bike.

The happy wolf pup waved to Laina, "Hi Laina! Merry Christmas!" She leaped off the bike and ran up to her giving her a big hug.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Valerie!" She picked up her small friend in a hug, "I gave your letter to Jingle. Did he bring you what you wrote on your list?"

"Uh-huh! I got the dolly and the tea set AND an NES with Wario's Woods," Valerie had a big smile on her glowing face, "And Jingle left me a note. He said since I've been extra, extra good this year, he gave me a bike too!"

"That's excellent! Good to see you having a good time," Laina looked around, "Where's your Uncle Wolfgang?"

Valerie thumbed back toward his house, "He's hooked on Wario's Woods although I beat him 6 times in a row. He said he's 'training' for the next match so I decided to come outside and play. I'm gonna go now. We're gonna go bike around the wishing well."

"Alright then, Valerie. Have fun," Laina waved to her as Valerie ran back to her bike and pedaled off after the boys once again, "And be careful. The concrete's slippery after a snowy night."

Quetzal squeezed past her, "I'll be back, love. I'm gonna go check on my house and see if Jingle left me some more presents." He winked playfully at her as he headed to his house next door.

Laina shook her head, "_If only he knew…_" She started to close the door to stop the cold air from coming in until she heard flapping noises above her head. She opened the door and saw Pete landing right in front of her mailbox. He took out her mail and stuffed it in her mailbox, the blue warning tag flipping up and beeping, and he took off into the air without saying a word.

She walked up to her mailbox, took her mail out, and tugged the warning tag back down. She saw she had mail from her mother and decided to wait to open it last. The second envelope from Tan-Xui surprised her and she immediately opened it, reading the letter written on the Sparkly Paper:

_To Laina_

_It's a miracle! My husband, Shu-Lin, has returned to me! Jingle found him living in a cave that was miles away from the village. He dropped him off before heading home. And I've see you've completed your job of getting Jingle's heart and the presents back. Good job! It's nice that Jingle has a reliable friend like you. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and many more in the future_

_From,_

_Tan-Xui_

Laina smiled and giggled feeling happy for her new friend, "Now they can finally spend Christmas together like a family. Makes me wish I could go back home with my folks." She shifted through her mail again and got to the last one which was a gift from Jingle with an envelope taped to it.

She opened the envelope and read the letter from the jolly reindeer:

_Helpful little Laina,_

_I'm not sure if I gave you my thanks. If I did, then I thank you again for saving me, my job, and the gifts for the good animals around the world. If it weren't for you and my family, I'd be another Jangle and bringing twice as much bad luck around the world. I'll return to my brother's home someday and hope to talk some sense into him. Anyway, I noticed that your clothes were ruined from your stressful adventure and Mrs. Jingle knitted you another. Hope to see you again next year and hope you'll tag along for another Christmas delivery._

_Be good!_

_Jingle, the black-nosed reindeer_

Laina returned back inside with the gift and opened the gift, pulling out a brand new Jingle shirt and coat. She quickly changed into her new outfit and walked back outside smiling as she looked up at the gray sky and beams of sunlight shined through them. She smiled up at a poofy cloud that took on the shape of Jingle's smiling face, "See you next year, jolly Saint Jingle."

END


End file.
